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Glite Dictionary
leptospira

leptospira

1 9.9
A type of spiral-shaped bacteria that sometimes causes serious disease in people and animals
  • noun
  • /ˌlɛp.təˈspaɪ.rə/
  • Specialized
: leptospira
  • The leptospira bacteria can be found in contaminated water.

Examples

  • The laboratory tests confirmed the presence of leptospira in the contaminated water sample.

  • Public health campaigns aim to raise awareness about diseases spread by leptospira.

  • Leptospira can cause serious infections in both humans and animals.

  • Many animals carry leptospira without showing symptoms.

  • Leptospira is a type of bacteria that can cause serious illness in both humans and animals.

  • In tropical regions, infections caused by Leptospira are often reported after heavy rainfall.

  • Veterinarians often examine samples for Leptospira when diagnosing canicola fever in dogs.

Surface Forms

leptospira singular
leptospiras plural

Morphology

leptospira = lepto + spira

Although the word is built from classical combining forms, its scientific meaning as a bacterial genus is not readily inferable for an average learner from the visible parts.

Etymology

Leptospira comes from Greek parts leptos 'thin' and spira 'coil', and you can see the same idea in the English word spiral. So leptospira literally means a 'thin coil', which helps you remember that these bacteria are long and spiral-shaped and can cause disease.