First report of seropositivity to pathogenic Leptospira in backyard hens: potential poultry health issue and zoonotic risk
Michelle Carvajal, Lucía Azócar-Aedo, Natasha Barrios, María Gallardo · 2026
Read First report of seropositivity to pathogenic Leptospira in backyard hens: potential poultry health issue and zoonotic risk by Michelle Carvajal, Lucía Azócar-Aedo, Natasha Barrios, María Gallardo (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-13223854.txt.
Description
Michelle Carvajal and co-authors published this veterinary study in 2026. Leptospirosis is a bacterial disease that spreads from animals to people worldwide. It is well studied in mammals but rarely checked in birds. The team sampled sixty-two backyard hens in three suburbs near Puerto Montt in southern Chile. Blood tests screened for antibodies against eight groups of the pathogenic bacteria, showing past exposure.
Just over half the hens, thirty-two of sixty-two, tested positive. Reactions were most common for the Sejroe group, followed by Autumnalis and Pomona. Many positive birds reacted to several groups at once, and antibody levels ranged widely. The authors say this is the first report of such exposure in backyard hens. Given how common backyard poultry keeping is worldwide, they flag a possible hidden health issue for the birds themselves. They also raise a zoonotic concern for the families who keep them.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Michelle Carvajal, Lucía Azócar-Aedo, Natasha Barrios, María Gallardo |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 31 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |