PAHO/WHO Collaborating Centre Spotlight Series
Reference Number: BRA-65
Official Title: PAHO/WHO CC for Leptospirosis
Institution: National Reference Laboratory for Leptospirosis, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz (IOC), Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ)
Category 1 (SP 14-19)
Outcome 4, 24, 25 (SP 20-25)
Dr. Paulo Duarte, Advisor, Veterinary Public Health at PANAFTOSA (Pan American Center for Foot-and-Mouth Disease), is the PAHO staff member who acts as the Region’s focal point to coordinate the collaboration between the institution and the Organization.
The main activities of this Centre include: (1) safekeeping the collection of Leptospira cultures; (2) building capacity by supporting leptospirosis diagnostics; and (3) conducting research to increase knowledge of leptospirosis.
The Centre safekeeps the collection of Leptospira cultures (Coleção de Leptospira -CLEP) by continuous culturing of live bacteria and shipment of bacteria cultures to national laboratories in order to build capacities on the diagnosis of leptospirosis across Member States. Recently, Cuba, Guatemala, and Panama submitted requests to the Centre and with the support of PANAFTOSA, received the collection of bacteria (including information on best practices) for the purpose of strengthening leptospirosis diagnosis and surveillance in their respective countries. The Centre has also worked with PAHO staff to produce publications to increase knowledge of Leptospira and the epidemiological situation of the disease within the Region including:
- A road map for leptospirosis research and health policies based on country needs in Latin America
- Leptospirosis in Latin America: exploring the first set of regional data
- Genetic diversity of Leptospira in northwestern Colombia: first report of Leptospira santarosai as a recognized agent
- High-resolution melting curve analysis of the 16S ribosomal gene to detect and identify pathogenic and saprophytic Leptospira species in Colombian isolates
- A One Health Approach to Investigating Leptospira Serogroups and Their Spatial Distributions among Humans and Animals in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, 2013–2015
Webnotes such as these serve to inform on how CCs are contributing to the Organization’s priorities and mandates.