The target group to which these guidelines are directed consists of health workers (clinicians, laboratory technicians, microbiologists, public health workers, veterinarians and biologists with an interest in zoonoses, etc.) having no specialized knowledge of leptospirosis but who wish to be generally informed about the microorganism concerned and the disease that it may cause. This is not a handbook and avoids technical detail, but the interested reader can find further information in the Annexes and the general bibliography. 

This series provides a detailed overview of the most important historic and emerging zoonotic diseases, such as Ebola hemorrhagic fever, foot-and-mouth disease, influenza, giardiasis, Japanese encephalitis, shigellosis, and spongiform encephalopathies, with information ranging from their first appearance and most important outbreaks to the latest scientific knowledge of the diseases and their causative agents.

This document has been produced jointly by technical clusters of WHO, as well as by UNAIDS, in order to bring together WHO recommended standards for the surveillance of communicable diseases. The purpose of this manual is to be a handy reference for key elements and contact information for all communicable diseases / syndromes associated with current WHO control programmes.

French Version (Leptospirosis p.93)

The Leptospirosis Burden Epidemiology Reference Group (LERG), convened as an advisory group to the Director-General of WHO, is tasked with quantifying and describing the leptospirosis burden in different populations, using summary measures of mortality and disability, such as disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). The first meeting of the LERG was held on 2–4 December 2009.

The second meeting of the Leptospirosis Burden Epidemiology Reference Group (LERG) was held on 22–23 September 2010 in Geneva, to further the work to estimate the global burden of human leptospirosis.