Which animal serves as the principal maintenance reservoir of Leptospira interrogans serovar Icterohaemorrhagiae?

• A Cattle
• B Domestic pig
• C Dog
• D Rat ✓

Explanation

Rodents, especially rats, are the maintenance hosts of L. icterohaemorrhagiae and shed the organism in urine for life without disease, contaminating water and soil. Cattle and pigs maintain other serovars such as Hardjo and Pomona, and dogs carry Canicola, so they are reservoirs of leptospirosis in general but not of this serovar. The rat association explains outbreaks after flooding in urban slums.

Reference: Ananthanarayan and Paniker's Textbook of Microbiology, 11th ed.

High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP

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