Detection of human leptospirosis as a cause of acute fever by capture ELISA using a Leptospira interrogans serovar Copenhageni (M20) derived antigen

Background Leptospirosis is a potentially lethal zoonosis mainly affecting low-resource tropical countries, including Peru and its neighbouring countries. Timely diagnosis of leptospirosis is critical but may be challenging in the regions where it is most prevalent. The serodiagnostic gold standard microagglutination test (MAT) may be technically prohibitive. Our objective in this study was to assess the sensitivity, specificity, and predictive value of an IgM antibody capture enzyme-linked immunoassay (MAC-ELISA) derived from the M20 strain of Leptospira interrogans serovar Copenhageni (M20) by comparison to MAT, which was used as the gold standard method of diagnosis.