FAMILY TREPOXEMATACEAE 



1077 



Brumpt, ibid., 508; Leptospira iclerogenes 

 Ford, Textb. of Bact., 1927, 994; Lepto- 

 spira nodosa Ford, ibid., 993.) From 

 Greek icterus, jaundice and hemorrhagiae, 

 bleeding. 



Morphology : 0.25 to 0.3 by 6 to 9 mi- 

 crons and occasionally 20 to 25 microns. 



Spiral amplitude: 0.4 to 0.5 micron, 

 regular, rigid. 



Spiral depth: 0.3 micron, regular. 



Waves : One or more gentle waves 

 throughout entire length. When in 

 liquid media, one or both ends may be 

 semicircularly hooked, while in semisolid 

 media the organism appears serpentine, 

 waved or bent. Very active fle.xibilitj'. 



Terminal filament and fiagella absent. 



Body stains reddish by Giemsa's stain. 



Bile salts (10 per cent): Easily dis- 

 .solved. 



Saponin (10 per cent) : Completely re- 

 sistant. 



Cultured easily in medium containing 

 10 per cent rabbit serum, 0.2 per cent 

 agar, slight amount of hemoglobin in salt 

 or Ringer's solution. Does not grow in 

 surface colonies. 



Temperature range: 25° to 37°C. Re- 

 mains alive longer at 25°C. 



Pathogenic for guinea pigs and deer- 

 mice . 



Habitat : The cause of infectious jaun- 

 dice in man (Weil's disease). Found in 

 the kidneys, urine and blood of wild rats. 

 No insect vector known. Found free- 

 living in water and slime (in mines). 



2. Leptospira hebdomadis (Ido et al.) 

 Xoguchi. (Spirochaeta nanukayami 

 Ido, Hoki, Ito and Wani, Nippon Gakkai 

 Zasshi, 5, 1917, No. 5; Spirochaeta hebdo- 

 madis Ido, Ito and Wani, Jour. Exp. 

 Med., 28, 1918, 435; Spiroschaudinnia 

 hebdomadis Castellani and Chalmers, 

 Man. Trop. Med., 3rd ed., 1919, 448; No- 

 guchi. Jour. Exp. Med., 30, 1919, 17; 

 Treponema hebdomadis Brumpt, Nouveau 

 Traitd de Medecine, Paris, 4, 1922, 501.) 

 From Latin, seven days. 



Morphologically indistinguishable from 



Leptospira icteroheamorrhagiae but can be 

 distinguished serologically. 



In man causes less jaundice than Lepto- 

 spira icterohaemorrhagiae and is never 

 fatal . 



Identical with Type B, Leptospira au- 

 tumnalis. 



Slightly pathogenic for young guinea 

 pigs. 



Is carried by the field vole {Microtus 

 montibelli) . 



Habitat : Cause of seven-daj^ fever or 

 gikiyami in Japan. 



3. Leptospira biflexa (Wolbach and 

 Binger) Noguchi. (Spirochaeta biflexa 

 Wolbach and Binger, Jour. Med. Res., 30, 

 1914, 23; Xoguchi, Jour. Exp. Med., 27, 

 1918. 585; Spirochaeta pseiido-icterogenes 

 (aquatilis) Fhlenhuth and Zuelzer, Cent, 

 f. Bakt., I Abt., Orig., 85, 1921,* 141 ; Spi- 

 rochaeta pseudoicterogenes Uhlenhuth and 

 Zuelzer, Klin. Wochmschr., 1, 1922, 2124; 

 Spirochaeta pseudo-icterohemorrhagiae 

 Vinzent, Compt. rend. Soc. Biol., Paris, 

 05, 1926, 1472; Leptospira pseudoictero- 

 genes Noguchi, in Jordan and Falk, Newer 

 Knowledge Bact. and Immun., 1928, 461.) 

 From Latin, doubly bent. 



Size : 0.2 to 0.25 by 5 to 7 microns with 

 tapering ends. Spiral amplitude 0.2 to 

 0.25 micron. Will pass through an L5 

 candle filter. 



Waves : 22 to 30 in number. 



Stains : Best results with Giemsa's 

 stain. 



Culture : Can grow in distilled water 

 plus 0.1 per cent potassium nitrate. 

 Rabbit serum in distilled water is best 

 medium. 



Optimum temperature 20°C. 



Antigenically distinct from Leptospira 

 icterohaemorrhagiae . 



Not pathogenic. 



Source : From tap water, ponds and 

 pools in Berlin. 



Habitat : Fresh water. 



4. Leptospira canicola Okell et al. 

 (Okell, Bailing and Pugh, Vet. Jour., 81, 

 1925, 3.) From Latin, dog-dweller. 



