Collaborating Centre for Veterinary Epidemiology and Public Health Public Health Impact of Leptospirosis in New Zealand Cord Heuer A. Dreyfus, J. Sanhueza, J. Benschop, F.Fang, J. Collins-Emerson, P.R. Wilson EpiCentre, Institute of Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical Sciences, Massey University, New Zealand
Agenda Surveillance of human cases Leptospira ecology Human exposure and infection Public health impact
New Zealand at top of OECD countries Leptospirosis Case Incidence (per 100,000) New Zealand Australia USA 3
Annual, notified human leptospirosis cases 600 500 Shedding 2010/11: 30% dairy herds 4% dairy cows 400 300 Vaccination of dairy herds 200 100 0 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012
ESR Surveillance Passive Reasons for underreporting GP awareness ELISA screening + MAT confirmation ACC case definition (MAT 800 or 4-fold rise in titre) Cost
Leptospira ecology 6
Wild pig:?? Possum: Balcanica Rabbit:?? Rat/mouse: Ballum, Copenhageni Hedgehog: Ballum, Pomona Hardjobovis 46% Pomona 23%, Ballum 18%, Tarassovi 8% Hardjobovis, Bratislava, (Ballum, Pomona, Tarassovi, Copenhageni, Canicola) Hardjobovis, Pomona, (Copenhageni, Ballum, Arborea) Hardjobovis, Pomona, (Copenhageni, Ballum) Hardjobovis, Pomona, (Copenhageni, Ballum) Copenhageni, Hardjobovis (Pomona, Ballum, Tarassovi, Canicola)
Sero-prevalence of 2,758 lambs at slaughter (1 plant) standard error peace years 2 3% outbreak years 5 15% 0.25 0.2 0.15 Outbreak Flood 2004 Lambs Hardjobovis Hardjo Hoggets 0.1 0.05 Peace 2005 0 May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Jan Feb Mar Mar Apr Apr May May Jun Dorjee et al., NZ Vet. J. 56(4), 164-170, 2008
Human exposure and infection 9
Relative frequency Contact rate of sheep-abattoir workers with infectious carcasses: how much exposure? Handling offal: Evisceration: Meat inspection: 17 vs 50 per day 6 vs 16 per day 5 vs 10 per day 20% Handling offal 15% 10% peace year outbreak year 5% 0% 0 8 16 24 32 40 48 56 64 72 80 88 96 104 112 Daily exposure risk to shedding carcasses Dorjee et al., Epid&Inf 139(5):797-806, 2011
Sero-conversion study 2009-10: exposure -> infection? 384 sheep abattoir workers - sampled twice with 1 year interval - 47 (12%) infected 337 (88%) not infected 22 (47%) flu-like Illness (4.4 days) 25 (53%) no illness 82 (24%) flu-like Illness (4.4 days) 255 (76%) no illness 3 (14%) severe leptospirosis (lab-confirmed) 0 (0%) severe leptospirosis 11
Prevalence and incidence of abattoir workers (sheep, cattle, deer abattoirs) Benschop et al. 2009, NZMJ, 122, 1-9; Dreyfus 2013, PhD Thesis 2013. Prevalence 8-22% New infections/year 0-13% Annual population incidence: mild disease PAR 2.0% severe disease PAR 0.8% total PAR 2.8% Proportion clinical when infected 22%
Lag effect of outbreaks: Lamb + ewe prevalence [Mathematical model of infection dynamics] 20% 18% 16% 14% 12% 10% 8% 6% 4% 2% 0% Outbreak Ewes Lambs 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Time (years) 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%
Lag effect of outbreaks: Lamb + ewe prevalence [Mathematical model of infection dynamics] 16% 15% 14% 13% 12% 11% Outbreak Incidence, worker Prevalence, worker 10% 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Time (years)
Public health impact 15
Population demographics Population strata Abattoir workers sheep 14,000 cattle 8,000 deer 2,000 24,000 Veterinarians and vet. assistants 2,832 Farmers and farm workers 579,080 Total rural: (14%) 605,912 Total urban population: (86%) 3,722,032 16
Estimating incidence from prevalence DATA Rate P abattoir workers: 13.0% Inc abattoir workers : 8.6% titre duration D=P/[(Inc*(1-P)] Veterinarians: 4.6% incidence Inc=P/[D*(1-P)] Farmers (approx.): 5.0% Rural population: Urban population: incidence weighted by pop-stratum size notified cases ratio rural:urban=154:1 Assumptions: days ill 4.4d mild, 28d severe illness cost per working day $500 cost of treatment $100/d for mild, $500/d severe illness 17
Rate of under-reporting Number of people affected each year: Rural Urban Population Population size 605,912 3,722,032 4,327,944 Mild illness 3,374 135 3,509 Severe illness 1,338 54 1,392 Total illness 4,712 189 4,901 Under-reporting rate (UR): Notified cases =113 in 2012 Estimated total cases = 4,901 UR = 43 x Estimated severe cases = 1,392 UR = 12 x
Years lost due to disability (YLD) Years lost because of lower 'quality of life Days per episode Rural (years) Urban (years) Population (years) Mild illness 4.4 41 2 43 Severe illness (28) 103 4 107 Total illness 144 6 150 Years ill (YLD) per 100,000 36.0 0.2 5.2 Comparison worldwide (Lancet 2012; 380: 2197 223) Cryptosporidiosis 122 per 100,000 Cholera 65 per 100,000 Leptospirosis/rural pop NZ 36 per 100,000 Amoebiasis 35 per 100,000 Diphteria 3 per 100,000
Economic impact Leptospirosis associated cost: Unit Rural Urban Total Pop. Lost work days $500/day $ 17.9m $ 0.7m $ 18.6m Treatment/mild $100/day-ill $ 1.0m $ 0.04m $ 1.0m Treatment/severe $400/day-ill $ 10.3m $ 0.4m $ 10.7m Total cost $ $ 29.2m $ 1.2m $ 30.4m Not yet considered: impact on livestock productivity
Conclusions Ecological specificity of host-serovar interactions Role of wildlife and house rodents still unclear Disease dynamics likely to vary between endemic and outbreak situations Modelling a potentially powerful tool for evaluating the public health impact Leptospirosis is not an insignificant disease in the NZ rural population Underreporting estimated 12-fold Burden on rural population: human + livestock Contrast economic loss to cost of prevention 21
Acknowledgement Abattoir workers, farmers, vets Neville Haack, Heather Ducket >12 funding bodies RWNZ SSF FLAG Beef&Lamb, DINZ, Alma Baker, Agmardt, NZVA, Massey, Waiarapa Vet- Assoc, MSD, Zoetis, Virbac Massey post-graduate students Collaborating Centre for Veterinary Epidemiology and Public Health Alejandra Anou Fang Juan Art Emilie