[Mechanism of the maintenance of the infective capacity of soil in a natural focus of leptospirosis].

The radioisotope modeling of the processes of the release of leptospires into the soil and the daily measurements of the radiation doses revealed that leptospires were regularly added by individual carriers, as well as by a group of carriers, into common infected spots on the territory of the infection focus. The frequency with which leptospires were added by a carrier into different infected spots varied: during 7 days leptospires were added 7 times and more into 16% of the spots, up to 5 times into 49% of the spots; into 35% of the spots no leptospires were added. The microscopic and bacteriological methods of investigation demonstrated that the regular release of leptospires into the infected spots resulted in maintaining the concentration of leptospires at such spots and their infective capacity. The number and distribution of these spots determined the stability of the epizootic potential of the territory.