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Paradisil INational Centre for Leptospirosis, Depart- ment of Bacteriology and Medical Mycology, Istituto Superiore di Sanitll, Rome, Italy; Xlinica di Malattie In- fettive? Universith di Firenze, Italy; 3Istituto di Malattie Infettzve, Universitk di Siena, Italy; 4Distrito de Salud de Cordillera, Unidad Sanitaria, Santa Cruz, Bolivia Keywords: leptospirosis, prevalence, Bolivia Leptospirosis is a world-wide zoonotic infection with high morbidity especially in developing countries. Sero- logical studies have indicated widespread leptospiral in- fection in several Latin American countries but there is little information on the prevalence in Bolivia. The present study was undertaken in collaboration with the Unidad Sanitaria of Santa Cruz to determine the prevalence of anti-leptospira antibodies in human settle- ments in south-eastern Bolivia. The investigation was carried out in 1989 in 3 localities in Cordillera Province in the southern part of Santa Cruz Department; the population consists mainly of Mestizos with some ethnically pure Guarani Indians who resort to agriculture and animal breeding for subsistence. Camiri is a city with approximately 25 000 inhabitants; some buildings in the city centre are supplied with untreated Address for correspondence: Dr L. Ciceroni, National Centre for Leptospirosis, Department of Bacteriology and Medical My- cology, Istituto di SanitB, Viale Regina Elena 299,00161 Roma, Italy. water directly from the river Parapeti. The other 2 localities, Boyuibe (2 500 inhabitants, 60 km south of Camiri) and Gutierrez (850 residents, 60 km north of Camiri), are both poor communities with no infrastruc- ture, potable water supply or sewage system. In the study area, 800-900 m above sea level, the temperature fluctuates between 17 and 26°C and the climate is sub- humid to dry (SANABRIA, 1977). Sera were collected from 295 apparently healthy sub- jects (111 males and 184 females) between 1 and 70 years of age. The cohort included 122 from Camiri, 111 from Boyuibe and 62 from Gutierrez. The sample size was cal- culated as recommended by the World Health Organiza- tion (WHO, 1966) to obtain evidence (with 95% cer- tainty) of the prevalence of anti-leptospira antibodies in not less than 3% of the population. Table 1. Prevalence of anti-leptospira antibodies in human sera from Cordillera Province, Bolivia, determined by the microscopical agglutination assay No. of sera Tested Positive Locality Camiri 122 Boyuibe 111 ;; ;gy;o Gutierrez 62 t I Sex 27 (4315;) Male Female 4y-C ears) Y 6-10 1l-20 2 l-40 >40 Unknown Total 111 184 El 29: 16 29: 32 (28.8%) 58 (31.5%) 12 (18.7%) 23 25.5% 14 51.8% t j 33 6 (35.1% I (37.5% 9; j35;:;i)) -