Epidemiological Survey of Leptospirosis in Cattle Farms in the Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea

Epidemiological Survey of Leptospirosis in Cattle Farms in the Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Perspective Epidemiological Survey of Leptospirosis in Cattle Farms in the Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea Sinafa Robby, Kari Sogera Iamba, Stephanie Tringin, Macquin Maino This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6423127/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Leptospirosis represents a critical yet understudied zoonotic bacterial disease in developing agricultural regions, with significant implications for cattle health and productivity. This comprehensive epidemiological survey of 22 cattle farms, including both commercial and smallholder operations in Papua New Guinea's (PNG) Morobe Province reveals substantial knowledge gaps, systemic vulnerabilities, and complex disease transmission risks. The research discovered that 82% of farmers lack fundamental knowledge about leptospirosis, its transmission pathways, and prevention strategies. High-risk environmental factors were prevalent, including reliance on open water sources, substantial rat infestations (73% of farms), and frequent rainfall events. Clinical assessments indicated significant production losses, with 64% of farms reporting high mortality rates associated with clinical manifestations such as stillbirths, weak offspring, skin diseases, and reduced milk production. Critically, 77% of farms lack access to veterinary services, and 86% operate without comprehensive biosecurity measures. These findings expose substantial infrastructure and awareness challenges in managing leptospirosis within the cattle industry. The study highlights urgent needs for targeted educational interventions, enhanced veterinary support, and development of locally appropriate disease prevention strategies. By establishing baseline epidemiological data and identifying key risk factors, this research provides crucial insights into leptospirosis dynamics in PNG's cattle farming landscape, offering a foundation for future intervention and policy development in agricultural health management. Leptospirosis Cattle health Zoonotic disease Papua New Guinea Disease epidemiology Biosecurity measures Morobe Province Environmental risk factors Veterinary access Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6423127","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Perspective","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":454775924,"identity":"72c4bd79-b748-4fa1-9073-8f73a3f2d5f7","order_by":0,"name":"Sinafa Robby","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA9UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACZiCuADEkeBgYPgBpNnZitJyBamGcAdLCTIxNMC3MPDBD8AH5dt6DHw7UMOTzS/cek7b5tU2ej5mB8cPHHNxaDA7zJUscOMZgOXPOuTTp3L7bhm3MDMySM7fh0cLMYyD9gY3BwOBGjpl0bs9tRqAWNmZePFrkm3mMfxz4B9Vi2XPbnqAWhsM8ZhIH26BaGH7cTiSoxQCoxeJgn4SB5JxzyZa9DbeT25gZm/H6Rb7/jPGNA99sDIAhdvDGjz+3bee3Nx/88BGfwyBAAkSwSDC2gWjGBoLqYYD5A8MfohWPglEwCkbBCAIAQd1LUlhwW3wAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Papua New Guinea University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sinafa","middleName":"","lastName":"Robby","suffix":""},{"id":454775926,"identity":"f750e3c4-00d9-4c53-bacb-0aeab4c73647","order_by":1,"name":"Kari Sogera Iamba","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Papua New Guinea University of Natural Resources and Environment","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Kari","middleName":"Sogera","lastName":"Iamba","suffix":""},{"id":454775927,"identity":"082b2a01-1fad-468d-be4e-8489f4bd747e","order_by":2,"name":"Stephanie Tringin","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Papua New Guinea University of Natural Resources and Environment","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Stephanie","middleName":"","lastName":"Tringin","suffix":""},{"id":454775929,"identity":"04e1126b-702a-4484-9af0-0a226c283357","order_by":3,"name":"Macquin Maino","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Papua New Guinea University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Macquin","middleName":"","lastName":"Maino","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-04-10 21:08:13","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6423127/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6423127/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":83381890,"identity":"29f25a1f-6242-4b44-86fa-53625d6ea559","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-05-24 10:16:42","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":632727,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"EpidemiologicalSurveyofLeptospirosisinCattleFarmsRevisedManuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6423127/v1_covered_ca1077b1-2599-4ec9-9a29-795ef9c204ed.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Epidemiological Survey of Leptospirosis in Cattle Farms in the Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Leptospirosis, Cattle health, Zoonotic disease, Papua New Guinea, Disease epidemiology, Biosecurity measures, Morobe Province, Environmental risk factors, Veterinary access","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6423127/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6423127/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eLeptospirosis represents a critical yet understudied zoonotic bacterial disease in developing agricultural regions, with significant implications for cattle health and productivity. This comprehensive epidemiological survey of 22 cattle farms, including both commercial and smallholder operations in Papua New Guinea's (PNG) Morobe Province reveals substantial knowledge gaps, systemic vulnerabilities, and complex disease transmission risks. The research discovered that 82% of farmers lack fundamental knowledge about leptospirosis, its transmission pathways, and prevention strategies. High-risk environmental factors were prevalent, including reliance on open water sources, substantial rat infestations (73% of farms), and frequent rainfall events. Clinical assessments indicated significant production losses, with 64% of farms reporting high mortality rates associated with clinical manifestations such as stillbirths, weak offspring, skin diseases, and reduced milk production.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eCritically, 77% of farms lack access to veterinary services, and 86% operate without comprehensive biosecurity measures. 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