Twelve new species of Leptospira discovered in New Caledonian soils

Leptospirosis is a re-emerging zoonosis that affects over one million people and is responsible for nearly 60,000 deaths each year worldwide. This disease transmitted to humans via freshwater contaminated with bacteria of the genus Leptospira has a record incidence in Oceania. A group of researchers from the Institut Pasteur International Network coordinated by the Institut Pasteur de Nouvelle Calédonie has just described 12 new species of the genus Leptospira.

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