Data from: Biogeography of Leptospira in wild animal communities inhabiting the insular ecosystem of the western Indian Ocean islands and neighboring Africa

Understanding the processes driving parasite assemblages is particularly
important in the context of zoonotic infectious diseases. Leptospirosis is
a widespread zoonotic bacterial infection caused by pathogenic species of
the genus Leptospira. Despite a wide range of animal hosts, information is
still lacking on the factors shaping Leptospira diversity in wild animal
communities, especially in regions, such as tropical insular ecosystems,
with high host species richness and complex biogeographical patterns.
Using a large dataset (34 mammal species) and a multilocus approach at a
regional scale, we analyzed the role of both host species diversity and
geography in Leptospira genetic diversity in terrestrial small mammals
(rodents, tenrecs and shrews) and bats from 10 different islands/countries
in the western Indian Ocean (WIO) and neighboring Africa. At least four
Leptospira spp. (L. interrogans, L. borgpetersenii, L. kirschneri and L.
mayottensis) and several yet-unidentified genetic clades contributed to a
remarkable regional Leptospira diversity, which was generally related to
the local occurrence of the host species rather than the geography. In
addition, the genetic structure patterns varied between Leptospira spp.,
suggesting different evolutionary histories in the region, which might
reflect both in situ diversification of native mammals (for L.
borgpetersenii) and the more recent introduction of non-native host
species (for L. interrogans). Our data also suggested that host shifts
occurred between bats and rodents, but further investigations are needed
to determine how host ecology may influence these events.