Seropositivity of Leptospirosis and Related Occupational and Environmental Factors in Myanmar

Seropositivity of leptospirosis and related occupational and environmental factors among abattoir workers in Myanmar: a prerequisite for one health approach control practices

Leptospirosis is a zoonosis of great importance of public health and considered one of the neglected tropical diseases affecting both human and animal populations. As this infection has occupational hazards for workers which keep direct or indirect contact with animals, mainly without adequately using protection measures, abattoir workers are on high risk of contracting leptospiral infection. Despite being prevalent as occupational zoonosis in resource limited setting like Myanmar, the information even for high-risk groups is scarce.

This cross-sectional study aims to detect seropositivity of Leptospira antibodies and related occupational and environmental factors among abattoir workers. A total of blood samples from 180 abattoir workers from five registered abattoirs with license type-B or type-C situating in Yangon Region were collected and those workers were also interviewed about their occupational and environmental variables. All blood samples were tested for detection of Leptospira antibodies by using SD BIOLINE IgM/IgG Immunochromatographic Assay. Then, the seropositive samples were transported to another laboratory for further serological examination by using Indirect Immunofluorescence Assay (IFA) to minimize the false positives.