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Leptospira icterohaemorrhagiae in rats of Beirut

1947; Oxford University Press; Volume: 40; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/0035-9203(47)90045-x

1878-3503

Bernard Kalfayan,

Research on Leishmaniasis Studies

The kidneys of seventy wild rats caught in Beirut were examined for leptospirae and eight were found to be positive. The incidence was 2 per cent, in fifty young rats under 20 cm., and 35 per cent. in twenty rats above 20 cm. Of the four different methods used, examination of the kidney sections impregnated with silver gave the highest number of positive results. Examination of the kidney emulsion under dark-field illumination, inoculation of the kidney emulsion into young guineapigs, and culture of the kidney emulsion gave respectively fewer positive results. Trypanosoma lewisi was found in eight of the seventy rats examined, all positive rats being under 20 cm. in length. The nematode, Trichosomoides crassicauda, was found in sections of the kidney pelvis of three rats, two of which showed an acute pyelitis. Histological examination of the seventy kidneys revealed fourteen cases of glomerulo-nephritis. Abundant brown pigment was deposited in the epithelial cells of the convoluted tubules in eleven kidneys, seven of which were positive for leptospirae, nine for glomerulo-nephritis, and five for both.