Objective

To conduct a systematic literature review to identify the prevalence of leptospirosis in Colombia between 2000 and 2012.

Methods

Descriptive studies conducted and published between 2000 and 2012 on the prevalence of leptospirosis in humans, animals and the environment using microagglutination (MAT) and immunoassay (ELISA) diagnostic methods, were selected. The exclusion criteria included studies in languages other than Spanish, English and Portuguese, in which the prevalence of leptospirosis was determined by immunofluorescence (IF), or serum agglutination test (SAT).

Results

Out of 91 articles reviewed in the different databases, 18 were selected since they met the inclusion criteria, which sought to determine the prevalence of leptospirosis in humans, canines, cattle, pigs, primates and rodents in the Atlántico, Antioquia, Meta, Córdoba, Risaralda, Tolima, Boyacá, Quindío and Valle del Cauca departments.

Conclusions

The systematic review allowed to determine the departments of the country where leptospirosis research is concentrated, as well as the authors with the highest number of publications on prevalence. The prevalence was found to be between 6% and 35% in humans, 41% and 60.9% in cattle, 10.3% in pigs, 12% and 47.14% in canines, 23.07 % in non-human primates, and the highest figure, between 25% and 82.7% in rodents, showing that the most frequent serovars were Icterohaemorrhagiae, Grippotyphosa and Canicola.