leptospirosis

noun lep·to·spi·ro·sis \ ˌlep-tə-spī-ˈrō-səs \

|Updated on: 8 Jul 2018

Definition of leptospirosis

plural leptospiroses play \ˌlep-tə-spī-ˈrō-ˌsēz\

: any of several diseases of humans and domestic animals that are caused by infection with leptospires

Recent Examples of leptospirosis from the Web

And dozens of residents soon after the storm fell ill with leptospirosis, a serious bacterial infection that can occur from consuming or wading in contaminated water, according to health officials.

— Scientific American, "Puerto Rico’s Water System Stutters Back to Normal," 14 June 2018
And dozens of residents soon after the storm fell ill with leptospirosis, a serious bacterial infection that can occur from consuming or wading in contaminated water, according to health officials.

— carmen heredia rodriguez, Washington Post, "Puerto Rico’s Water System Stutters Back To Normal," 14 June 2018
And dozens of residents soon after the storm fell ill with leptospirosis, a serious bacterial infection that can occur from consuming or wading in contaminated water, according to health officials.

— Scientific American, "Puerto Rico’s Water System Stutters Back to Normal," 14 June 2018
And dozens of residents soon after the storm fell ill with leptospirosis, a serious bacterial infection that can occur from consuming or wading in contaminated water, according to health officials.

— carmen heredia rodriguez, Washington Post, "Puerto Rico’s Water System Stutters Back To Normal," 14 June 2018
And dozens of residents soon after the storm fell ill with leptospirosis, a serious bacterial infection that can occur from consuming or wading in contaminated water, according to health officials.

— Time, "Puerto Rico’s Water System Is Slowly Returning To Normal. But Many Are Being Left Behind," 12 June 2018
Some diseases — both viral and bacterial — are known to spread from mice and other rodents to humans, including hantavirus, Lassa fever, and leptospirosis, often when the animals’ feces or urine contaminates people’s food.

— andrew joseph, STAT, "Germs carried by New York’s mice are plentiful, and some have antibiotic-resistance genes," 17 Apr. 2018
Deworming is also mandatory within 10 days of beginning the trip to Nome, and vaccinations (distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis, parvovirus, bordetella, rabies) must be current.

— stuart l. nelson, jr., Anchorage Daily News, "An inside look at Iditarod dog care," 28 Feb. 2018
Most of the island’s residents still do not have electricity and basic needs, and there's been a leptospirosis outbreak due to lack of accessible potable water in certain parts of the island.

— tatiana tenreyro, Billboard, "Puerto Rican 'Drag Race' Alumni Talk Show's Impact on the Island Ahead of Benefit Concert," 2 Nov. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'leptospirosis.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of leptospirosis

New Latin

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: circa 1926

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

Medical Dictionary

leptospirosis

noun lep·to·spi·ro·sis \ ˌlep-tə-spī-ˈrō-səs \

medical Definition of leptospirosis

plural leptospiroses play \-ˌsēz\

: any of several diseases of humans and domestic animals (as cattle and dogs) that are caused by infection with spirochetes of the genus Leptospira — called also lepto; see stuttgart disease, weil's disease