Ending the Neglect of Treatable Bacterial Zoonoses Responsible for Non-Malaria Fevers

Cyrille Goarant (1) , Koussay Dellagi (2) , Mathieu Picardeau (3)

1 UREL - Unité de Recherche et d'Expertise Leptospirose - Leptospirosis Research and Expertise Unit [Nouméa, Nouvelle-Calédonie]
2 Direction Internationale de l'Institut Pasteur
3 Biologie des Spirochètes / Biology of Spirochetes

Bacterial zoonotic diseases such as leptospirosis, Q fever, melioidosis, spotted fever group rickettsioses, and brucellosis are increasingly recognized causes of non-malaria acute fevers. However, though readily treatable with antibiotics, these diseases are commonly misdiagnosed resulting in poor outcomes in patients. There is a considerable deficit in the understanding of basic aspects of the epidemiology of these neglected diseases and diagnostic tests for these zoonotic bacterial pathogens are not always available in resource-poor settings. Raising awareness about these emerging bacterial zoonoses is directly beneficial to the patients by allowing a test-and-treat approach and is essential to control these life-threatening diseases.

Mots clés: neglected tropical diseases; leptospirosis; tropical countries; antibiotics

Domaines: Maladies infectieuses

Cyrille Goarant, Koussay Dellagi, Mathieu Picardeau. Ending the Neglect of Treatable Bacterial Zoonoses Responsible for Non-Malaria Fevers. Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine, 2021, 94 (2), pp.351-360. ⟨hal-03277705⟩