The effects of rain and flooding on leptospirosis incidence in sheep and cattle in New Zealand.

Abstract

Aims: To describe the spatio-temporal patterns of leptospirosis case counts in sheep and cattle in New Zealand, and to assess their association with climate variables indicative of flooding and surface runoff. As livestock are a major reservoir of Leptospira spp. and an important source of zoonotic transmission, understanding these patterns is critical for informing livestock and public health interventions in the context of climate change.

Methods: Confirmed cases of bovine and ovine leptospirosis from January 2011 to December 2023 were extracted from the Ministry for Primary Industries' Animal Health Surveillance programme. Climate data was sourced from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research. Using the χ² test and Poisson regression models, the association between district-level case counts and four climate indices were examined: seasonal mean rainfall, seasonal frequency of extreme rainfall, seasonal mean soil moisture, and seasonal frequency of estimated surface runoff.

Results: Findings indicated an average of 13 confirmed cases for sheep annually, with notable surges in 2017 (34 cases) and 2023 (36 cases), aligning with extreme climate events. Poisson regression models for sheep leptospirosis identified significant associations with extreme rainfall (incidence risk ratio (IRR) = 5.03; 95% CI = 1.18-21.45), mean rainfall (IRR = 1.25; 95% CI = 1.15-1.36), surface runoff (IRR = 1.09; 95% CI = 1.04-1.15), and soil moisture (IRR = 1.03; 95% CI = 1.02-1.03). Cattle leptospirosis was positively associated with surface runoff (IRR = 1.06; 95% CI = 1.02-1.10) and soil moisture (IRR = 1.01; 95% CI = 1.00-1.01). Associations with extreme rainfall (IRR = 1.46; 95% CI = 0.49-4.31) and mean rainfall (IRR = 1.07; 95% CI = 1.00-1.14) were not statistically significant.

Conclusions: The outcomes of this study provide new evidence linking extreme rainfall, surface runoff, and other climate variables with increased leptospirosis case counts in sheep, with less pronounced but notable associations in cattle. These findings highlight the vulnerability of livestock to climate-driven disease pressures and suggest that future extreme weather events may increase the risk of leptospirosis outbreaks. This has important implications for targeted vaccination, surveillance, and public health preparedness in flood-prone rural regions of New Zealand.

Abbreviations: ICC: Intra-class correlation coefficient; IRR: Incidence risk ratio; MPI: Ministry for Primary Industries; NIWA: National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research.