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David Walliams

David Edward Williams (born 20 August 1971), known professionally as David Walliams, is an English comedian, actor, writer, and television personality. He is best known for his work with Matt Lucas on the BBC sketch comedy series Little Britain (2003–2006) and Come Fly With Me (2010–2011). From 2012 to 2022, Walliams was a judge on the television talent show competition Britain's Got Talent on ITV. He is also a writer of children's books, having sold more than 37 million copies worldwide.

Walliams played the role of Greville White in the 2007 television drama film Capturing Mary. From 2013 to 2014, he wrote and starred in the BBC One sitcom Big School. In 2015, he starred as Tommy Beresford in the BBC drama series Partners in Crime, and wrote and starred in the sketch comedy series Walliams & Friend. Walliams has won the award for Best TV Judge for his work on Britain's Got Talent at the 2015, 2018, 2019 and 2020 National Television Awards. In 2022, he was a judge on the tenth season of Australia's Got Talent.

Walliams began writing children's novels in 2008 after securing a contract with the publisher HarperCollins. His books have been translated into 53 languages, and he has been described as "the fastest-growing children's author in the UK", with a literary style compared to that of Roald Dahl. Some of his books have been adapted into television films, which he has also appeared in, including Mr Stink (2012), Gangsta Granny (2013) and Billionaire Boy (2016). As of 2023, Walliams book sales stand at over 50 million copies sold worldwide.

Walliams was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to charity and the arts. His charity work includes swimming the English Channel, Strait of Gibraltar and River Thames, raising millions of pounds for the BBC charity Sport Relief.

Early life and education
Walliams was born at St Teresa's Maternity Hospital in Wimbledon, in the London Borough of Merton, in 1971. He is the son of Peter Williams (1936–2007), a London Transport engineer, and Kathleen Williams (née Ellis), a laboratory technician who worked at Sutton Grammar School. Walliams grew up in Banstead, Surrey, specifically in the residential area of Nork, with his mother, father and sister Julie. He was educated at Collingwood Boys' School in Wallington, and Reigate Grammar School in Surrey, where he was a contemporary of writer Robert Shearman. From 1989 to 1992, he studied at the University of Bristol, where he resided at Manor Hall and graduated with Bachelor of Arts (Drama). During university holidays in 1990, Walliams performed with the National Youth Theatre, where he met future comedy partner and friend Matt Lucas. He changed his stage name to David Walliams when he joined college Equity, as there was already a member named David Williams.

Television career
Walliams performed in the Big Finish Productions Doctor Who audio play Phantasmagoria, written by Mark Gatiss in 1999. In 2005, Walliams, Simon Pegg, Lucy Davis and Lauren Laverne starred in the video for Charlotte Hatherley's single "Bastardo". Later in the year, Walliams presented a documentary on James Bond, entitled David Walliams: My Life with James Bond. In 2007, he returned to non-comedy television, garnering positive reviews for his portrayal of a suave and dangerous manipulator in Stephen Poliakoff's Capturing Mary.

He portrayed comedian Frankie Howerd in the BBC Four television film Rather You Than Me. In 2010, Walliams appeared with Paul Rudd and Steve Carell in the comedy Dinner for Schmucks. Walliams played the strange mole-like alien Gibbis in the sixth series of Doctor Who, in the episode "The God Complex", broadcast on BBC One in 2011. In April 2012 Walliams appeared in an episode of ITV's Perspectives programme entitled "David Walliams: The Genius of Dahl". Also in 2012, he narrated ''Are You Having a Laugh? TV and Disability on BBC Two, and the ITV2 series Top Dog Model''.

In 2013, Walliams appeared in two episodes of the comedy series Blandings as Rupert Baxter, an efficiency expert hired to serve as Lord Emsworth's secretary. Also that year, and in 2014, Walliams starred as chemistry teacher Keith Church in the BBC One sitcom Big School, which he created and co-wrote. The series also starred Catherine Tate, Frances de la Tour and Philip Glenister. In March 2014 Walliams narrated a short video for the charity, Electrical Safety First, featuring the character Charley from the Charley Says educational films of the 1970s.

For Comic Relief 2015, Walliams appeared as Lou Todd and Stephen Hawking in the Andy Pipkin role along with Catherine Tate as a nun. In 2015, coinciding with the 125th anniversary of Agatha Christie's birth, Walliams played the role of Tommy Beresford in Partners in Crime, a six-part BBC series. In September 2015, Walliams began filming for his BBC sketch show Walliams & Friend, which also starred Joanna Lumley and Morgana Robinson and premiered on Christmas Eve in 2015. The show returned for a full series in November 2016.

Walliams hosted the final comedy show Thrills and Spills in December 2016. The final was held in Louisville, Kentucky. In December 2016, Walliams presented the Royal Variety Performance and a Christmas special episode of Blankety Blank, both shows for ITV. In 2017, Walliams guest presented five episodes of The Nightly Show for ITV.

In 2017, Walliams, along with Rochelle Humes, were both confirmed as Voice Trumpets, joining the existing cast of Daniel Rigby, Antonia Thomas, Jim Broadbent, Fearne Cotton and Jane Horrocks In series 2 of the reboot of classic British children's television series Teletubbies.

In October 2019, Walliams became the new National Television Awards (NTAs) host for 2020, taking over after Dermot O'Leary's ten year presenting stint.

Matt Lucas
Walliams and Matt Lucas first met at the National Youth Theatre. At their first meeting, Lucas did an impression of Jimmy Savile and Walliams an impression of Frankie Howerd. They would not meet again for another year. In the late 1990s, playing minor roles in sketches such as The Club, Walliams and Lucas played grotesque caricatures of various rock musicians in the series Rock Profile and in the spoof documentary series Sir Bernard's Stately Homes. They were also stars of the Paramount Comedy Channel show Mash and Peas, and it was in this guise that they appeared in the Fat Les video. Walliams and Lucas also had small roles in Plunkett and Maclaine as prisoners.

The duo appeared together in a music video for the Pet Shop Boys single "I'm with Stupid", in which the two are apparently auditioning their version of the song's video for Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, who are tied up and appear to be hostages.

The pair are best known for Little Britain, which ran from 2003 to 2009 on the BBC in the UK and from 2008 onwards on HBO in the US. The programme first aired on BBC Three before moving to the more mainstream BBC One. Among the characters Walliams played were Emily Howard, a deluded "transvestite"; Ray McCooney, an insane Scottish hotel owner; and Sebastian Love, an aide de camp to the Prime Minister (portrayed by Anthony Head) on whom Love has a huge crush. A successful live stage show of the series, Little Britain Live, was produced in 2006. A number of seasonal and charity specials followed, up to 2009. A spin-off series produced in the United States by HBO, Little Britain USA, aired in 2008. The characters from Little Britain played by Walliams and Lucas appeared in a 2010 UK television advertising campaign for the Nationwide Building Society. In January 2005 Walliams and Lucas were named the most powerful people in TV comedy by Radio Times.

Their later series was Come Fly with Me, a six-part series airing on BBC One. The first episode was the third most-watched programme of Christmas Day 2010, and the most watched comedy of the year. The duo have not worked or made any public appearances together since early 2011 (although they each make separate cameo appearances in Michael Winterbottom's 2013 film The Look of Love).

Little Britain returned to BBC Radio 4 on 31 October 2019, for a one-off special entitled Little Brexit.

Got Talent franchise
From 2012 to 2022, Walliams was a judge on the ITV1 talent show Britain's Got Talent with Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and Simon Cowell. In 2015, 2018 and 2019, he was recognised at the National Television Awards as Best Judge for his involvement in the series.

In 2022, it was announced that Walliams would be joining Seven Network's Australia's Got Talent as a judge for the show's tenth season alongside fellow Britain's Got Talent judge Alesha Dixon, and Australian actors Kate Ritchie and Shane Jacobson.

In November 2022, after controversy erupted regarding leaked disparaging comments made by Walliams to contestants, it was reported that Walliams had decided "to bow out after a ten-year run", and that he wished to leave the show "on a high after a wonderful time". He was replaced by Strictly Come Dancing judge Bruno Tonioli.

Children's novels
In early 2008 Walliams signed a contract with HarperCollins to publish two children's books. The debut novel, The Boy in the Dress, illustrated by Quentin Blake, was released worldwide on 1 November 2008. It explores several of the themes of Little Britain from Walliams' own life on an emotional level, such as the camp humour of cross-dressing and effeminacy. The story recounts a neglected 12-year-old boy called Dennis' search for a female role model, his friendship with the popular girl in school, and the ways in which relationships develop along gender lines. The story has a strong resonance with Anne Fine's 1989 book Bill's New Frock. This book was adapted into a film for Christmas 2014.

In November 2009 came Mr Stink, again illustrated by Quentin Blake, about a 12-year-old girl who meets a tramp and helps look after him. She keeps him hidden from her family. The book consists of 26 illustrated chapters full of jokes. It is aimed at teenagers and children over 9. It was the last of Walliams books to be illustrated by Quentin Blake. The book was awarded the Children's Award in the inaugural People's Book Prize in 2010, and was made into a 60-minute film, which premiered on BBC One on 23 December 2012.

On 28 October 2010 Walliams published his third book Billionaire Boy, illustrated by Tony Ross, telling the story of Joe Spud, the richest 12-year-old in the country. Joe's father is a famous inventor, and his wealth means that Joe has everything he could ever want: his own bowling alley, cinema and a trained orangutan who serves as his butler, but there is just one thing he really needs: a friend. The book included a 'billion pound note' that was used to enter a competition to win a day as a billionaire in London. This was the first of his books to be illustrated by Tony Ross.

Walliams' fourth book, Gangsta Granny was released in October 2011 and again illustrated by Tony Ross. It tells the story of Ben who is bored every time he is made to stay at his grandma's house as all she wants to do is to play board games and eat cabbage soup. Ben learns that she was once an international jewel thief and all her life she has wanted to steal the crown jewels. Ben is determined that they do it together. It won a Red House Children's Book Award and was adapted to be a 70-minute film for BBC One and shown on 26 December 2013.

In September 2012 Walliams released his fifth children's book, Ratburger, telling the story of a young girl named Zoe whose life is a misery as she has an evil stepmother. It was made into a one-off drama for Sky One.

Ratburger was followed in September 2013 by Walliams' sixth book, Demon Dentist, relating the tale of a young boy named Alfie with no family except his dad whose world goes upside-down when a new dentist arrives in town. The book won the top prize in the Younger Readers category at the 2015 Red House Children's Book Awards.

Walliams' seventh children's book, Awful Auntie, was released on 25 September 2014. This was the story of a girl named Stella whose Auntie has moved into her house with her owl, Wagner. It is the first (and currently only) of Walliams' books to not include Raj the newsagent, due to the book being set in the 1930s before Raj was born.

In September 2015 he released Grandpa's Great Escape. The story follows a boy called Jack trying to rescue his Grandpa who suffers from Alzheimer's disease from a care home run by an evil matron. The book was adapted for BBC One, with the script written by Walliams and Kevin Cecil, and starring Tom Courtenay as Grandpa. This book, although set in the 1980s like Awful Auntie is, sees the return of Raj the newsagent. The same year that Grandpa's Great Escape was published, Walliams backed children's fairytales app GivingTales in aid of UNICEF, together with Roger Moore, Stephen Fry, Ewan McGregor, Joan Collins, Joanna Lumley, Michael Caine, Charlotte Rampling and Paul McKenna.

The Midnight Gang was published in November 2016. Bad Dad was published in November 2017. Walliams sold £16.57 million worth of books in 2017. The Ice Monster was published in November 2018. In 2020, the book Code Name Bananas, which was set in World War II-era Britain was published, and was being announced on Walliams' Instagram. Walliams' next children's novel, Spaceboy, was published in September 2022. On 5 April 2023, the children's novel Robodog was published. The story is about Robodog, the newest recruit at the police dog school, as he sets out to save his city from some evil criminals trying to destroy it.

Short story collections
Illustrated in colour by Tony Ross, Walliams' three The World's Worst Children short story collections, centered around 'five beastly boys and five gruesome girls', were published in May 2016, May 2017 and May 2018, respectively.

The World's Worst Teachers was published on 27 June.

In July 2020, tweets by author and activist Jack Monroe described Walliams' books as "like Little Britain for kids", with "horrific racism and classism and bodyshaming in a veneer of privileged deniability". HarperCollins issued a response, stating "David Walliams's books have a diverse readership which is reflected in their content". Also in July 2020, Williams' next book, The World's Worst Parents was published, and the book followed the same structure as all of the previous short story collection books.

In September 2021 it was announced that one of the stories in The World's Worst Children would be removed after podcaster Georgie Ma made a complaint, saying Walliams' book was "normalising jokes on minorities from a young age." The story criticised by Ma earlier in the year is "about a Chinese boy called Brian Wong" who is "never, ever wrong". Ma, who also called out the story for its "casual racism", talked in May with representatives of HarperCollins, who agreed to remove the story in future editions of the book. The book was later republished in 2022, with a new story about Charlie the Chucker, who "delights in pelting people with snowballs".

On 28 April 2022, Walliams' next book in the short story collections, this time titled The World's Worst Pets was published. However, this book was illustrated by Adam Stower, Walliams' new illustrator, whereas all the other books in the series were illustrated by Tony Ross. The next and latest book of the series, The World's Worst Monsters was published on 6 July 2023.

Theatre
On 26 August 2008 Walliams made his stage debut at the Gate Theatre in Dublin opposite Michael Gambon in Harold Pinter's No Man's Land, in front of an audience that included Pinter himself. The production transferred to London later in the year.

In 2013, he played the part of Bottom in a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Noël Coward Theatre opposite Sheridan Smith as Titania.

In July 2014, Walliams appeared on stage with Monty Python during their live show Monty Python Live (Mostly) held at the O2 Arena, London. He was the special guest in their "Blackmail" sketch.

Screenwriting
In addition to his writing credits for his sketch shows and adaptions of his novels, he was set to co-write an animated film titled Shadows with filmmaker Edgar Wright for DreamWorks Animation. It was never made however, due to the staff changes at DreamWorks animation which left the film in limbo.

In 2018, Walliams also starred in the British Airways Safety video, which was conducted in conjunction with Comic Relief for the airlines in house charity. Walliams most notable occasion in the video is the lifejacket instruction. Since then the video has been reworked with a mixture of the previous version; however, Walliams still appears in the new version.

Podcast
Walliams hosted a classical music podcast for children called David Walliams' Marvellous Musical Podcast. The show was produced by Classic FM and won a gold prize at the 2020 British Podcast Awards.

Telethon hosting
Walliams co-hosted a segment of the Sport Relief telethon in 2012, co-hosting the 22:00–22:40 slot with Miranda Hart when the show moved over to BBC Two while the BBC News at Ten was aired.

Walliams also co-hosted the 2014 Sport Relief telethon. This time, he hosted the earlier slot between 19:00–22:00 with Gary Lineker and later Davina McCall.

Swimming the English Channel
On 4 July 2006 Walliams swam the English Channel for Sport Relief. It took him 10 hours and 34 minutes to swim the 22-mile (35 km) stretch of sea, equivalent to 700 lengths of an Olympic-size swimming pool. This was wrongly reported as one of the top 50 recorded times for an unaided Channel crossing; in reality Walliams placed 167th at the time of crossing in only the CSA listings, excluding the CSPF listings. He raised over £1 million in donations. Under the supervision of his trainer, he trained for nine months to prepare for the swim. The training had to coincide with Walliams and Lucas's Little Britain Live tour, so he daily had to train for several hours before performing on stage in the evening.

Walliams first swam from Lee-on-the-Solent near Portsmouth to the Isle of Wight in around two hours and also completed an eight-hour swim off the coast of Croatia before embarking on the cross-Channel attempt. Walliams has insisted that prior to his challenge he had never seriously taken part in any sport. The Bluetones' lead singer Mark Morriss wrote a song, "Fade In/Fade Out", in honour of Walliams' achievement; it can be found on their self-titled album, released on 9 October 2006.

Swimming the Strait of Gibraltar
On 7 March 2008 Walliams, along with James Cracknell, swam the 12 mi Strait of Gibraltar from Spain to Morocco, again for Sport Relief. He successfully completed the swim in just over 4½ hours.

Cycling
In March 2010 Walliams and a group of celebrities cycled an end-to-end journey through the UK, raising over £1 million for Sport Relief. Walliams suffered a serious fall when tackling the Kirkstone Pass, a thousand-foot climb in the Lake District but was able to complete the ride.

24 Hour Panel People
In March 2011 Walliams undertook 24 Hour Panel People, in which he took part in back-to-back recordings of various panel show formats over the course of 24 hours to raise money for Comic Relief. The recordings were streamed live on the BBC website. He took part in 19 episodes of "classic" TV panel shows.

Swimming the Thames
From 5 to 12 September 2011 Walliams swam the length of the River Thames (140 mi) and raised more than £2 million for Sport Relief. Once he had got out of the river Walliams said "I think a bath is the only water I will be seeing for a while." The swim resulted in him getting giardiasis and injuring an intervertebral disc. In late 2013, Walliams had emergency back surgery to alleviate issues caused by the swim.

Personal life
In 2007, Walliams' father, Peter, died of an aggressive form of liver cancer.

In 2009, Walliams dated eighteen-year-old model Lauren Budd. Budd claimed Walliams had approached her agent, Premier Model Management for a date with Budd.

In 2009, Walliams began dating Dutch model Lara Stone. On 20 January 2010, they got engaged after her parents had given their blessing to the relationship. On 16 May 2010, the couple were married at central London's Claridge's Hotel. On 6 May 2013, Stone gave birth to the couple's child, Alfred.

Walliams and Stone lived in a house with a recording studio, formerly owned by Noel Gallagher, known as Supernova Heights in Belsize Park, North London. It was reported on 4 March 2015 that, following five years of marriage, the pair had decided to try a trial separation after "drifting apart". On 9 September 2015, Walliams filed for divorce from Stone, citing "unreasonable behaviour". The couple were granted a decree nisi the next day; the marriage was formally dissolved six weeks after the date of filing.

Walliams hinted at being pansexual in the book Inside Little Britain, but said he did not like to be labelled by that word. In an interview with Radio Times in 2013, he stated: "I think it's all about falling in love with the person and that is overlooked, really. I hate it when people 'confess' or 'reveal' their sexuality and also things can change for people over the years. So it is about the person but I also think it goes beyond that. You don't just fall in love with someone's body, do you? You fall in love with someone's soul and heart and brain."

Walliams has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and he described his 2006 swim of the English Channel as "some sort of redemption".

Exposing teenagers' genitals and simulating sex during 'Hide the Sausage'
Walliams performed a 'Hide the Sausage' sketch numerous times during the Little Britain Live tour in 2006 and subsequent worldwide tours including Little Britain in Australia in 2007 and at charity events. Walliams portrayed a fictional, gay, former children's entertainer and sex offender named Des Kaye who invites volunteers from the audience or celebrity guests to play the game. Recordings of the sketch include footage where Walliams attempts to kiss participants, manhandles them, pulls their trousers and underwear down, and simulates anal sex. Volunteers are seen "grappling to keep their genitals covered." The sketch was criticised by gay rights campaigners and attracted criticism and concern from members of the public.

Teenagers during Little Britain Down Under
Footage from a 2007 BBC documentary titled Little Britain Down Under shows Walliams inviting male teenagers, said to be aged sixteen to eighteen, to play 'Hide the Sausage' on stage. Walliams asks the volunteers to confirm their ages and says "Bingo" when one claims they are sixteen years old before adding, "You're a big boy for 16 aren't you - that's what I'll tell the judge."

Walliams is seen pulling down the trousers and underwear of young men before he appears to kiss their buttocks and simulate anal sex. The volunteers attempt to keep their clothes on.

During the documentary, Walliams reads a letter he claims was written by a victim of sexual abuse who criticises the Des Kaye character. Elsewhere in the documentary, Walliams says, "I love cruelty, it's my favourite thing in the world."

Exposing Jeremy Edwards' genitals and Mark Ronson's buttocks
In 2006, Walliams performed 'Hide the Sausage' during the Little Britain Comic Relief Gala at the Hammersmith Apollo. Participants included comedian David Baddiel and English actor Jeremy Edwards whose genitals were exposed to more than 3,000 people in the live audience. Walliams also 'dry humped' Edwards and lay on top of him. Walliams said on stage, "That was not meant to happen. You were not supposed to see gonad. Arse crack, yes. Gonad, no.' An image of the incident, that includes Edwards' penis, is available to purchase on Getty Images

Chortle reported that. "tellingly, Edwards – who seemed genuinely embarrassed by the incident – did not appear at the final curtain call."

On 2 November 2009, Walliams performed the sketch with Mark Ronson at London's O2 Academy Brixton in front of 3,000 people at a charity event for Concert for CARE. Footage from the event shows Ronson trying to stop Walliams from pulling his trousers and underwear down. Ronson's buttocks were exposed. After the event, Walliams was reported to have said, "When I put my mind to it, I have the strength of ten men so there's no stopping me. Mark is a cool, calm character. To put him in that position was out of his comfort zone." Walliams claimed that he offered to buy Ronson a new suit.

Criticism and violent reaction from theatre goers
Matt Lucas discussed the 'Hide the Sausage' sketch in his 2017 autobiography titled Little Me and claimed that some audience members reacted with violence. Lucas wrote that "during a game of 'Hide the Sausage', he would almost always wrestle the trousers off some poor lad" adding that, "You could never get away with that today. In fact he didn't always get away with it then. Sometimes David would get a clout for his troubles and I'd see him in the wings afterwards, nursing a sore ear." Critics of the sketch included human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell who said it, "crosses a red line into the sexual humiliation of young men. Tatchell added:"Williams portrayal of a predatory paedophile is not funny. It's sickening and unacceptable. That sketch should not be repeated anywhere. It should be withdrawn from public viewing and filed in a film archive so that future historians have evidence of what passed for 'comedy' only 13 years ago. Some viewers will have interpreted Walliams as playing the trope of gay men as predators and paedophiles. Even though Walliams supports the LGBT+ community, his depiction plays into the hands of those who wrongly equate homosexuality with the exploitation of young people."

Sexual comments about Harry Styles
In 2011 Ofcom and Channel 4 received complaints regarding comments made by Walliams on Chris Moyles' Quiz Night. In regards to Harry Styles, Walliams said, "I'd like to suck his cock." Styles was 17 years old at the time. Then director of Mediawatch UK, Vivienne Pattison, criticised Channel 4's decision to broadcast the remark adding that "jokes like this set up a context of behaviour that somehow normalises and justifies it."

Kim Jong-un Halloween costume
In early November 2017, Walliams caused upset through his dressing as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for Halloween and posting it online. He had shared the photograph on his Twitter account, in costume, wearing a black suit, wig, and artificial prosthetics that appeared to alter his eyelids and hairline. There was an immediate backlash online, many Twitter users branding the outfit "racist" and accusing Walliams of "yellow-face". Others made the point that it was insensitive for Walliams to dress as Kim Jong-un given the North Korean leader's 'appalling' human rights record. Walliams responded to the backlash lightly, constructing a fake text message from Kim Jong-un which he posted to Twitter, reading: "Hi Dave, Loved the Halloween outfit mate! Wet meself laughing. Don't see what all the fuss is about. Kim x. PS Can't wait to read Bad Dad."

Presidents Club Charitable Trust
In January 2018, Walliams attended a Presidents Club Charitable Trust charity auction as a host, as well as offering the opportunity to name a character in a future book as an auction prize. The 2018 event was his third time hosting, with Walliams additionally offering that he would be "personally presenting the book to your family over afternoon tea". This event was later subject to significant controversy, after undercover reporters reported many of the hostesses were subject to groping and sexual harassment from the all-male attendees. Walliams said he attended the event in a "strictly professional capacity" as host, and "left immediately" after his set ended, stating that he was "absolutely appalled" by the reports. The controversy caused some bookshops to remove his books from sale, with the owner of Chicken and Frog noting "even if he was unaware, when the highly inappropriate suggested names were mentioned for his auction lot, or the plastic surgery to 'add spice to your wife', he should have walked away. He did not".

Stereotypes and black face
In June 2020, Netflix, Britbox, NOW TV and BBC iPlayer dropped Walliams and Lucas' Little Britain and Come Fly With Me, over the use of blackface and stereotypes to portray black, disabled, working class, transgender, and gay people. In Little Britain, both Walliams and Lucas use make up to portray different races, with Walliams portraying a black health-spa guest called Desiree Devere. Variety Magazine attributed the widespread removal of the series on streaming platforms to heightened awareness in the wake of George Floyd's murder and the resulting Black Lives Matter protests. After the removal, Walliams and Lucas released identical apologies on their Twitter: "[We] have both spoken publicly in recent years of our regret that we played characters of other races. Once again we want to make it clear that it was wrong & we are very sorry."

Britain's Got Talent remarks
In November 2022, it emerged that Walliams had made sexually explicit and derogatory remarks towards some of the contestants on Britain's Got Talent, during a recording at the London Palladium in January 2020. He was recorded as saying of one of them, "She thinks you want to fuck her, but you don't... I know, she's just like: 'Oh, fuck off!' I was saying, she thinks you want to fuck her, but you don't. It's the last thing on your mind, but she's like: 'Yep, I bet you do!' 'No I don't!' I had a bit of a boner, but now it's going, it's now shrivelled up inside my body." In a statement later, he said: "I would like to apologise to the people I made disrespectful comments about during breaks in filming for Britain's Got Talent in 2020. These were private conversations and – like most conversations with friends – were never intended to be shared. Nevertheless, I am sorry."

Awards and honours
Walliams was given a special award in recognition of his sporting efforts for charity. Matt Lucas produced a documentary on the subject, entitled Little Britain's Big Swim. On 6 November 2006, Walliams won the Pride of Britain Award for "The Most Influential Public Figure" as he raised more than £1.5 million swimming the channel for the Sport Relief charity. Although initially tipped as a contender for the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year poll for 2006, Walliams failed to make the final shortlist of 10 contenders. Walliams was given a special award during the ceremony for his achievement. In July 2006, he became Patron of 'Cardiac Risk in the Young'.

At the 2012 National Television Awards, Walliams won the 'Landmark Achievement Award', for his television career and achievements for Sport Relief. In December 2012 he won the Specsavers National Book Awards "Children's Book of the Year" for Ratburger. In December 2013 he won the Specsavers National Book Awards "Children's Book of the Year" for Demon Dentist. In December 2014 he won the Specsavers National Book Awards "Children's Book of the Year" for Awful Auntie. Awful Auntie also won the 2014 Specsavers National Book Awards "Audiobook of the Year".

Walliams has won the award for Best TV Judge at the 2015, 2018 and 2019 National Television Awards.

He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to charity and the arts. He was invested with the honour by Princess Anne.

title: David Walliams


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Soul Survivor (charity)

Soul Survivor is a Christian movement, based in Watford, Hertfordshire, part of the charismatic evangelical tradition. From 1993 until 2019, it ran Christian summer festivals aimed at young people, as well as other events throughout the year. It is also the name of a church, centred around weekly worship services at its warehouses in Watford.

Festivals
Soul Survivor was used as the branding of annual festivals, well known in British evangelical churches. The organisation was registered at Companies House in the UK, on 12 May 2000, and with the Charity Commission on 12 May 2011. At their height, the festivals attracted 30,000 people annually, and in the financial year ending December 2019 during which the final festival took place, the charity had an income of almost GB£3800000.

Beginnings
By 1993, the number of young people attending the annual New Wine charismatic evangelical Christian family conference every summer at the Royal Bath and West Showground in Somerset was sufficient for the organisers to launch a specific youth event. The first Soul Survivor conference took place in the summer of 1993, under the leadership of Mike Pilavachi, a youth worker at St Andrew's Church, Chorleywood. The worship leader Matt Redman was also involved in the festival's founding. Like New Wine, the Soul Survivor conferences were initially overseen by St Andrew's Church, before being established as independent entities.

Growth of the festivals
1,896 young people attended the first Soul Survivor festival and in 1995, it was split across two weeks, named Soul Survivor A and Soul Survivor B. By 2006, annual attendance across the two weeks was around 25,000. Soul Survivor C was launched the following year at the Royal Cheshire Showground. In 2008, Soul Survivor A moved to the Stafford County showground with B and C remaining at the Royal Bath and West Showground. A fourth week was launched in July 2014 at the Thainstone Centre in Inverurie, later moving to Lendrick Muir in Kinross. In 2017, Soul Survivor moved to the East of England Showground near Peterborough for the Soul Survivor B and Soul Survivor C festivals. The final Soul Survivor festival ended on 27 August 2019 at the East of England Showground, near Peterborough.

Additional events
The Momentum festival, aimed at students and young adults in their twenties and thirties, was established in 2004. A further event, Naturally Supernatural, for the whole family, was launched in 2017.

Locations
Between 1993 and 2019, festivals were held at various sites across the UK. Brands and venues included: The festivals consisted of seminars, sporting events and art, music and drama workshops during the day, and a charismatic worship service followed by live bands in the evening.

Live albums
The worship events at the Soul Survivor festivals were often recorded, and each year a live album was released featuring the most popular new songs from the festivals. The albums contained original songs written by the worship teams, as well as traditional and contemporary songs from other artists and churches.

Soul Survivor Church, Watford
A church, based in two converted warehouses in Watford, Hertfordshire, shares the name Soul Survivor and has the same leadership team, but is a legally separate organisation. Started by Pilavachi, with a team of eleven from St Andrew's, Chorleywood, in its current form, the church was incorporated as a charitable incorporated organisation in June 2019.

The church raised GB£1789628 to rebuild part of their site in June 2018.

Soul Survivor Watford is a Bishops' Mission Order of the Diocese of St Albans, and part of the Church of England.

Investigation into Mike Pilavachi
In April 2023, it was announced that Mike Pilavachi had "stepped back from all ministry," including his roles leading Soul Survivor, while an investigation was carried out into "non-recent safeguarding concerns". The internal investigation was completed in September 2023, substantiating the allegations made against Pilavachi and concluding that "he used his spiritual authority to control people and that his coercive and controlling behaviour led to inappropriate relationships".

UK
In 2000, the Soul Survivor team partnered with The Message Trust on Message 2000 and Festival: Manchester, gathering 10,000 young people in the city.

This was followed in 2004 with "Soul In The City", in London, a mission in which 20,000 young people from around the world gathered in the capital to undertake practical projects and evangelistic events.

Soul Survivor also organised "Soul In The City Durban" which took place in Summer 2009 in Durban, South Africa.

International
Soul Survivor has also held festivals and other events in the following locations:

Legacy
A seminar on vocation to Christian ministry was timetabled at the festival every year, often led by principals of Church of England training colleges. Former Bishop of Kensington Graham Tomlin suggested that the events had a positive impact on the number of young church leaders training, particularly looking towards deployment in the church planting movement.

The festivals were also influential in the growth of the charismatic worship movement in the UK. Worship leaders Matt Redman and Tim Hughes, whose songs were sung internationally, began their careers at the events.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Soul Survivor (charity)


text:
Echternach

Echternach (Iechternach or locally Eechternoach) is a commune with town status in the canton of Echternach, in eastern Luxembourg. Echternach lies near the border with Germany, and is the oldest town in Luxembourg.

History
The town grew around the Abbey of Echternach, which was founded in 698  by St Willibrord, an English monk from Ripon, Northumbria (in present-day North Yorkshire, England), who became the first bishop of Utrecht and worked to Christianize the Frisians. As bishop, he was the Echternach monastery's abbot until his death in 739. It is in his honour that the notable Dancing procession of Echternach takes place annually on Whit Tuesday.

The river Sauer that flows past the town now forms the border between Luxembourg and Germany; in the later Roman Empire and under the Merovingians by contrast, the Sauer did not form a border or march in this area. The Roman villa at Echternach (traces of which were rediscovered in 1975) was reputed to be the largest north of the Alps. Echternach was later part of the Electorate of Trier (present-day Germany) and was presented to Willibrord by Irmina (Irmine), daughter of Dagobert II, king of the Franks. Other parts of the Merovingians' Roman inheritance were presented to the Abbey by king of the Franks Pepin the Short.

Echternach continued to have royal patronage from the house of Charlemagne. Though the monks were displaced by the canons of the bishop of Trier between 859 and 971, and although Willibrord's buildings burned down in 1017, the Romanesque basilica, with its symmetrical towers, to this day houses Willibrord's tomb in its crypt. The abbey's library and scriptorium had a European reputation. As it flourished, the town of Echternach grew around the abbey's outer walls and was granted a city charter in 1236. The abbey was rebuilt in a handsome Baroque style in 1737. In 1794 the church was sacked and the abbey used as a porcelain factory. In 1797, in the wake of the French Revolution, the monks were dispersed and the abbey's contents and its famous library were auctioned off. Some of the library's early manuscripts, such as the famous Echternach Gospels, are now in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris. In the 19th century, a porcelain factory was established in the abbey and the town declined, until the advent of the railroad brought renewed life and an influx of tourists.

During the concluding months of World War II in Europe, on 16 December 1944, Echternach served as the southernmost point on the battlefront for the attempt of the German Wehrmacht forces attacking the Allies to retake Antwerp, during the Battle of the Bulge. The town was badly damaged in World War II but was thoroughly restored.

Culture
There are two main churches in Echternach. The larger is the Abbey's Basilica of St Willibrord, which survives from the original abbey and is a fair monument of Romano-Gothic architecture. The basilica is now surrounded by the eighteenth-century abbey (today a high school) and is located in the heart of the town's historical centre. The other is the parish church of St Peter and Paul, under whose altar lie the remains of St Willibrord. The nearby Prehistory Museum traces mankind's history over the past one million years.

Notable people

 * Johannes Holler (1614–1671) Roman Catholic prelate and Auxiliary Bishop of Trier 1663–1671
 * Joseph-Alexandre Müller (1854–1931) Luxembourg composer.
 * Artur Sirk (1900 in Pruuna, Estonia – 1937 in Echternach), Estonian political and military figure.
 * Léon-Henri Roth (1922–1945), a resistance fighter.
 * Jules A. Hoffmann (1941) a French biologist, joint winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2011
 * Jeannette Goergen-Philip (born 1947) Luxembourg archer, competed at the 1984 and 1992 Summer Olympics
 * Gaston Stronck (born 1957) Luxembourg diplomat
 * Georges Lentz (born 1965), Luxembourg composer, grew up in Echternach.

Politicians

 * Caspar Mathias Spoo (1837–1914), Luxembourg industrialist and politician.
 * Robert Schaffner (1905–1979), Luxembourg politician, twice mayor of Echternach, 1945-1947 and 1970-1979
 * Marie-Josée Frank (born 1952 in Echternach), Luxembourg politician
 * Marcel Sauber (born 1939), Luxembourg politician
 * Fernand Boden (born 1943), politician from Luxembourg, government minister 1979–2009

title: Echternach


text:
Matt Lucas

Matthew Richard Lucas (born 5 March 1974) is an English actor, comedian, writer and television presenter. He is best known for his work with David Walliams on the BBC sketch comedy series Little Britain (2003–2006) and Come Fly with Me (2010–2011).

Lucas first came to prominence on the comedy panel show Shooting Stars, in which he portrayed scorekeeper George Dawes from 1995 to 2009. From 2015 to 2017, he portrayed the role of Nardole in the BBC series Doctor Who. He has also appeared in films, including Astro Boy (2009), Alice in Wonderland (2010), Bridesmaids, Gnomeo & Juliet (both 2011), Small Apartments (2012), Paddington (2014), and Wonka (2023). Lucas presented the baking competition show The Great British Bake Off, alongside Noel Fielding from 2020 to 2023.

Early life
Matthew Richard Lucas was born on 5 March 1974 in the Paddington area of west London, the son of Diana (née Williams; born 1945) and chauffeuring business owner John Stanley Lucas (1944–1996). His family is Jewish; some of his mother's family fled Nazi Germany just before the Second World War. He was raised in a Reform Jewish household although his parents came from Orthodox Jewish families. He has had alopecia since childhood, having lost all his hair after being struck by a car at the age of 6. When Lucas was 22, his father died of a heart attack.

Lucas was educated at Aylward Primary School and Haberdashers' Boys' School in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire. He studied drama at the University of Bristol between 1992 and 1995, although he did not complete his degree. He also spent time with the National Youth Theatre, where he met his future collaborator David Walliams.

Early work
Lucas's association with Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer began in 1992. He appeared in The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer in 1995, and went on to star with them in Shooting Stars. He quickly rose to fame as George Dawes, a giant baby (often dressed in an adult-sized romper suit) who would deliver a string of meaningless gags and insults before delivering the teams' scores, while sitting at and playing a drum kit. He also appeared on occasion as Marjorie Dawes, George's mother, who also appears in Little Britain.

He again appeared with Reeves & Mortimer in the BBC TV series Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) and Catterick, in a variety of roles. In 1999, Lucas paired with David Walliams, with whom he had already worked in Mash and Peas and Sir Bernard's Stately Homes, to create Rock Profile, a comedy show spoofing famous musical personalities. It is notable for being one of their first comedic collaborations.

His music video appearances include the Damien Hirst-directed video for Blur's "Country House", "Jesusland" by Ben Folds in 2005, "I'm with Stupid" by Pet Shop Boys, and "Vindaloo" by Fat Les.

Lucas ventured into stage musicals in 2002, when he took a role in Boy George's musical Taboo at The Venue in London. He played the performance artist Leigh Bowery.

Little Britain
Little Britain is Lucas' most commercially successful work. The show came about when trainee BBC radio producer Ashley Blaker, tasked with coming up with ideas for a television or radio series, bumped into Lucas in London. The two were old friends from Haberdashers' and Lucas took Blaker to the Groucho Club, where he told Blaker of his ideas for a sketch show. Little Britain was launched as a radio show on BBC Radio 4 and it later became a TV series.

Among the many characters he plays in the series, which he writes and acts in along with David Walliams, are apparently "disabled" Andy Pipkin, teenage Bristol chav Vicky Pollard, homophobic homosexual Daffyd Thomas, and insensitive slimming club organiser Marjorie Dawes.

In January 2005, Lucas and Walliams were named the most powerful people in TV comedy by Radio Times.

Later career
In 2005, he took his first role in a television drama, a supporting part as a Venetian duke in the BBC historical serial Casanova, written by Russell T Davies. Also in 2005, he did voice work in the ITV children's program King Arthur's Disasters alongside Rik Mayall. Since 2006, Lucas has been the voice of the radio and television character Digit Al, devised as part of a public information campaign on digital switchover. On 26 November 2006 he appeared on the BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs. He made a cameo appearance in Shaun of the Dead as Tom, the cousin of Shaun's friend Yvonne.

In 2007, he released "I'm Gonna Be", originally by The Proclaimers, with Peter Kay as a charity single for Comic Relief. He performed the single as Little Britain character Andy Pipkin, along with Kay playing as Brian Potter. He also starred as Mr. Toad in The Wind in the Willows, a 2006 television adaptation of the Kenneth Grahame novel.

He has appeared in Kath & Kim and Neighbours (the latter alongside David Walliams as Little Britain characters Lou and Andy), as well as a cameo role, playing 'Chris' or 'Jammy' at the wedding fayre, in the BBC Three sitcom Gavin & Stacey. Lucas has co-written (with Walliams) and performed in a new series of Little Britain USA for HBO. Lucas was the first celebrity to appear in 2008's Big Brother Celebrity Hijack on E4.

On 9 April 2009, the series Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire, featuring Lucas as a regular performer, premièred on Comedy Central, the first major comedy series which Lucas had worked on since Little Britain. In 2010, Lucas played Tweedledee and Tweedledum in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland.

Starting in February 2010, Lucas began hosting his own radio show, And The Winner Is, in which he handed out a fictional series of awards based on nominations by his guests.

On 3 October 2010, Lucas played Thénardier in the 25th Anniversary Concerts of Les Misérables, at the O2 Arena in London. A year later, from 23 June to 10 September 2011, he reprised the role at the Queen's Theatre, in the West End. He has since collaborated with Alfie Boe, who played Jean Valjean, to record a duet of "The Impossible Dream" on Boe's debut album.

Also in 2011, Lucas lent his voice to the CGI film Gnomeo and Juliet and he played a small role as the roommate of Kristen Wiig in the comedy 'Bridesmaids'.

On Christmas Day 2010, the BBC began showing Lucas and David Walliams' new series, Come Fly with Me. The show saw Walliams and Lucas each playing multiple characters but, unlike Little Britain, it focused entirely on the working environment of the airline industry. In an interview shown on BBC 3 on 9 February 2011, it was stated that the creators considered bringing travel agent character Carol Beer from Little Britain to the new series, but decided against it, as they did not want viewers to see the new show as merely a spinoff. Instead, all new characters were introduced.

On 28 March 2012, Lucas appeared as the "Generation X" guest on the Australian game show Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation. On 10 April 2012, Lucas's own BBC One show The Matt Lucas Awards began. It was a send-up of an awards program, with a panel of comedians giving their nominations for awards for a series of prizes concerning trivial topics.

Lucas also starred in the dark comedy Small Apartments released in February 2013 alongside James Caan, Billy Crystal, Johnny Knoxville, and Juno Temple with other cameo performances by notable actors. On 21 February 2013, Lucas appeared on the NBC series Community as Toby, an English friend of Abed Nadir. In 2014, Lucas played Ray Thomas in The Life of Rock with Brian Pern.

Lucas launched a new comedy series called Pompidou for BBC Two. The show began airing on 1 March 2015.

In May 2016, Lucas reprised his role as "Tweedledee/Tweedledum" in Tim Burton's Alice Through the Looking Glass, sequel to Alice in Wonderland. Lucas joined the BBC series Doctor Who for its tenth series, reprising the character Nardole, which he had previously played in the 2015 and 2016 Christmas specials, "The Husbands of River Song" and "The Return of Doctor Mysterio" respectively.

On 16 February 2017, Lucas was awarded an Honorary Degree "Doctor of Letters" by the University of Bristol, where he had studied for two years in the 1990s but had left before completing his degree course. On 3 October 2017, Lucas released his autobiography titled Little Me, published by Canongate Books in hardback. The paperback edition was released on 7 June 2018.

From 2 July to 25 August 2018, Lucas played Bill Snibson in a revival of Me and My Girl at Chichester Festival Theatre.

In 2019, Lucas was the bank holiday cover host for the Radio 2 Breakfast Show. He will also cover Paul O'Grady's Sunday 5–7pm show during the summer; Fearne Cotton will be the main holiday cover host. In 2021, Lucas continues to sit in for Zoe Ball and host the Radio 2 Breakfast Show.

From 10 August to 30 November 2019, Lucas appeared in Les Misérables at the Gielgud Theatre in London's West End, playing the role of Monsieur Thénardier in a fully staged concert adaptation of the musical. On 20 December 2019, Lucas returned to the role at the Sondheim Theatre, after actor Gerard Carey contracted vocal damage through pneumonia and was forced to pull out. On 10 January 2020, Lucas himself was forced to withdraw from the show following a back injury.

In March 2020, he became the new co-host of the Channel 4 and Love Productions television show The Great British Bake Off, taking over from Sandi Toksvig. He departed from the programme in December 2022.

On 3 April 2020, Lucas released a reworked version of his "Baked Potato Song" from Shooting Stars titled "Thank You Baked Potato", with all proceeds from the track going towards the Feed NHS campaign, which aims to provide meals for NHS workers in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK. The song reached No. 34 in the charts. Lucas also wrote a children's picture book based on "Thank You, Baked Potato", published by Egmont and all proceeds again go to Feed NHS.

In 2020, Lucas, along with his Little Britain co-star David Walliams, apologised for their portrayal of characters using racial caricatures, "including an obese Caribbean woman called Desiree DeVere, portrayed in blackface, and a 'portly Thai bride' called Ting Tong." This was prompted after Netflix and BBC iPlayer removed the show from their catalogues.

Personal life
Lucas is a patron of the Karen Morris Memorial Trust, a UK charity for leukaemia patients and their families. In April 2003, he appeared on Celebrity Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and won £62,500 for the charity.

Lucas is gay. He first suspected his sexuality at age seven. At a ceremony in Central London in December 2006, he entered into a civil partnership with Kevin McGee. In attendance were Barbara Windsor, Neil Tennant, Elton John, and Courtney Love. They separated and had their civil partnership dissolved through the High Court in 2008.

Lucas was raised as Jewish but has variously described himself as an atheist and a "fairly secular Jew". In 2022, he was the subject of BBC's Who Do You Think You Are? and learned that many of his grandmother's cousins had been murdered in the Holocaust. His grandmother's cousin, Werner Goldschmidt, had lived with the family of diarist Anne Frank in Amsterdam in 1942. In 2021, 83 years after his grandmother left Berlin, Lucas obtained German citizenship.

Lucas is an avid supporter of Arsenal Football Club.

From 2012 to 2015, Lucas lived with his Bridesmaids co-star Rebel Wilson in West Hollywood.

title: Matt Lucas


text:
Richard Douglas

Richard Douglas is the name of:

 * Dick Douglas (1932–2014), Scottish politician
 * Richard Douglas (civil servant) (born 1956), United Kingdom civil servant
 * Richard Douglas (footballer) (born 1987), Australian rules footballer
 * Richard Douglas (letter writer) (floruit 1560-1600), Scottish courtier

title: Richard Douglas


text:
User:Ormondad

Thank you for contributing to the Wikipedia! It is a great community to belong to and we welcome you!

We are a self-policing, self-editing group that aims to create an encyclopedia of human knowledge, and so everyone has something to add. We hope you will do your part.

That being said, I have taken steps to delete your first article. In order to give the project a universal format, to make it hang together, we have a lot of rules for style. Yours did not (I think) measure up.

I hope you can rewrite your contribution to meet the standards.

Again, welcome!

Please do not bite the newcomers

PaulinSaudi 11:24, 12 May 2004 (UTC)]]

title: User:Ormondad


text:
Leptospirosis

Leptospirosis is a blood infection caused by the bacteria Leptospira that can infect humans, dogs, rodents and many other wild and domesticated animals. Signs and symptoms can range from none to mild (headaches, muscle pains, and fevers) to severe (bleeding in the lungs or meningitis). Weil's disease, the acute, severe form of leptospirosis, causes the infected individual to become jaundiced (skin and eyes become yellow), develop kidney failure, and bleed. Bleeding from the lungs associated with leptospirosis is known as severe pulmonary haemorrhage syndrome.

More than ten genetic types of Leptospira cause disease in humans. Both wild and domestic animals can spread the disease, most commonly rodents. The bacteria are spread to humans through animal urine or feces, or water or soil contaminated with animal urine and feces, coming into contact with the eyes, mouth, nose or breaks in the skin. In developing countries, the disease occurs most commonly in pest control, farmers and low-income people who live in areas with poor sanitation. In developed countries, it occurs during heavy downpours and is a risk to pest controllers, sewage workers and those involved in outdoor activities in warm and wet areas. Diagnosis is typically by testing for antibodies against the bacteria or finding bacterial DNA in the blood.

Efforts to prevent the disease include protective equipment to block contact when working with potentially infected animals, washing after contact, and reducing rodents in areas where people live and work. The antibiotic doxycycline is effective in preventing leptospirosis infection. Human vaccines are of limited usefulness; vaccines for other animals are more widely available. Treatment when infected is with antibiotics such as doxycycline, penicillin, or ceftriaxone. The overall risk of death is 5–10%. However, when the lungs are involved, the risk of death increases to the range of 50–70%.

It is estimated that one million severe cases of leptospirosis in humans occur every year, causing about 58,900 deaths. The disease is most common in tropical areas of the world but may occur anywhere. Outbreaks may arise after heavy rainfall. The disease was first described by physician Adolf Weil in 1886 in Germany. Infected animals may have no, mild or severe symptoms. These may vary by the type of animal. In some animals Leptospira live in the reproductive tract, leading to transmission during mating.

Signs and symptoms
The symptoms of leptospirosis usually appear one to two weeks after infection, but the incubation period can be as long as a month. The illness is biphasic in a majority of symptomatic cases. Symptoms of the first phase (acute or leptospiremic phase) last five to seven days. In the second phase (immune phase), the symptoms resolve as antibodies against the bacteria are produced. Additional symptoms develop in the second phase. The phases of illness may not be distinct, especially in patients with severe illness. 90% of those infected experience mild symptoms while 10% experience severe leptospirosis.

Leptospiral infection in humans causes a range of symptoms, though some infected persons may have none. The disease begins suddenly with fever accompanied by chills, intense headache, severe muscle aches and abdominal pain. A headache brought on by leptospirosis causes throbbing pain and is characteristically located at the head's bilateral temporal or frontal regions. The person could also have pain behind the eyes and a sensitivity to light. Muscle pain usually involves the calf muscle and the lower back. The most characteristic feature of leptospirosis is the conjunctival suffusion (conjunctivitis without exudate) which is rarely found in other febrile illnesses. Other characteristic findings on the eye include subconjunctival bleeding and jaundice. A rash is rarely found in leptospirosis. When one is found alternative diagnoses such as dengue fever and chikungunya fever should be considered. Dry cough is observed in 20–57% of people with leptospirosis. Thus, this clinical feature can mislead a doctor to diagnose the disease as a respiratory illness. Additionally, gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhoea frequently occur. Vomiting and diarrhea may contribute to dehydration. The abdominal pain can be due to acalculous cholecystitis or inflammation of the pancreas. Rarely, the lymph nodes, liver, and spleen may be enlarged and palpable.

There will be a resolution of symptoms for one to three days. The immune phase starts after this and can last from four to 30 days and can be anything from brain to kidney complications. The hallmark of the second phase is inflammation of the membranes covering the brain. Signs and symptoms of meningitis include severe headache and neck stiffness. Kidney involvement is associated with reduced or absent urine output.

The classic form of severe leptospirosis, known as Weil's disease, is characterised by liver damage (causing jaundice), kidney failure, and bleeding, which happens in 5–10% of those infected. Lung and brain damage can also occur. For those with signs of inflammation of membranes covering the brain and the brain itself, altered level of consciousness can happen. A variety of neurological problems such as paralysis of half of the body, complete inflammation of a whole horizontal section of spinal cord, and Guillain-Barré syndrome are the complications. Signs of bleeding such as petechiae, ecchymoses, nose bleeding, blackish stools due to bleeding in the stomach, vomiting blood and bleeding from the lungs can also be found. Prolongation of prothrombin time in coagulation testing is associated with severe bleeding manifestation. However, low platelet count is not associated with severe bleeding. Pulmonary haemorrhage is alveolar haemorrhage (bleeding into the alveoli of the lungs) leading to massive coughing up of blood, and causing acute respiratory distress syndrome, where the risk of death is more than 50%. Rarely, inflammation of the heart muscles, inflammation of membranes covering the heart, abnormalities in the heart's natural pacemaker and abnormal heart rhythms may occur.

Bacteria
Leptospirosis is caused by spirochaete bacteria that belong to the genus Leptospira, which are aerobic, right-handed helical, and 6–20 micrometers long. Like Gram-negative bacteria, Leptospira have an outer membrane studded with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on the surface, an inner membrane and a layer of peptidoglycan cell wall. However, unlike Gram-negative bacteria, the peptidoglycan layer in Leptospira lies closer to the inner than the outer membrane. This results in a fluid outer membrane loosely associated with the cell wall. In addition, Leptospira have a flagellum located in the periplasm, associated with corkscrew style movement. Chemoreceptors at the poles of the bacteria sense various substrates and change the direction of its movement. The bacteria are traditionally visualised using dark-field microscopy without staining.

A total of 66 species of Leptospira has been identified. Based on their genomic sequence, they are divided into two clades and four subclades: P1, P2, S1, and S2. The 19 members of the P1 subclade include the 8 species that can cause severe disease in humans: L. alexanderi, L. borgpetersenii, L. interrogans, L. kirschneri, L. mayottensis, L. noguchii, L. santarosai, and L. weilii. The P2 clade comprises 21 species that may cause mild disease in humans. The remaining 26 species comprise the S1 and S2 subclades, which include "saprophytes" known to consume decaying matter (saprotrophic nutrition). Pathogenic Leptospira do not multiply in the environment. Leptospira require high humidity for survival but can remain alive in environments such as stagnant water or contaminated soil. The bacterium can be killed by temperatures of 50 °C and can be inactivated by 70% ethanol, 1% sodium hypochlorite, formaldehyde, detergents and acids.

Leptospira are also classified based on their serovar. The diverse sugar composition of the lipopolysaccharide on the surface of the bacteria is responsible for the antigenic difference between serovars. About 300 pathogenic serovars of Leptospira are recognised. Antigenically related serovars (belonging to the same serogroup) may belong to different species because of horizontal gene transfer of LPS biosynthetic genes between different species. Currently, the cross agglutination absorption test and DNA-DNA hybridisation are used to classify Leptospira species, but are time-consuming. Therefore, total genomic sequencing could potentially replace these two methods as the new gold standard of classifying Leptospira species.

Transmission
The bacteria can be found in ponds, rivers, puddles, sewers, agricultural fields and moist soil. Pathogenic Leptospira have been found in the form of aquatic biofilms, which may aid survival in the environment.

The number of cases of leptospirosis is directly related to the amount of rainfall, making the disease seasonal in temperate climates and year-round in tropical climates. The risk of contracting leptospirosis depends upon the risk of disease carriage in the community and the frequency of exposure. In rural areas, farming and animal husbandry are the major risk factors for contracting leptospirosis. Poor housing and inadequate sanitation also increase the risk of infection. In tropical and semi-tropical areas, the disease often becomes widespread after heavy rains or after flooding.

Leptospira are found mostly in mammals. However, reptiles and cold-blooded animals such as frogs, snakes, turtles, and toads have been shown to have the infection. Whether there are reservoirs of human infection is unknown. Rats, mice, and moles are important primary hosts, but other mammals including dogs, deer, rabbits, hedgehogs, cows, sheep, swine, raccoons, opossums, and skunks can also carry the disease. In Africa, a number of wildlife hosts have been identified as carriers, including the banded mongoose, Egyptian fox, Rusa deer, and shrews. There are various mechanisms whereby animals can infect each other. Dogs may lick the urine of an infected animal off the grass or soil, or drink from an infected puddle. House-bound domestic dogs have contracted leptospirosis, apparently from licking the urine of infected mice in the house. Leptospirosis can also be transmitted via the semen of infected animals. The duration of bacteria being consistently present in animal urine may persist for years.

Humans are the accidental host of Leptospira. Humans become infected through contact with water or moist soil that contains urine & feces from infected animals. The bacteria enter through cuts, abrasions, ingestion of contaminated food, or contact with mucous membrane of the body (e.g. mouth, nose, and eyes). Occupations at risk of contracting leptospirosis include farmers, fishermen, garbage collectors and sewage workers. The disease is also related to adventure tourism and recreational activities. It is common among water-sports enthusiasts in specific areas, including triathlons, water rafting, canoeing and swimming, as prolonged immersion in water promotes the entry of the bacteria. However, Leptospira are unlikely to penetrate intact skin. The disease is not known to spread between humans, and bacterial dissemination in recovery period is extremely rare in humans. Once humans are infected, bacterial shedding from the kidneys usually persists for up to 60 days.

Rarely, leptospirosis can be transmitted through an organ transplant. Infection through the placenta during pregnancy is also possible. It can cause miscarriage and infection in infants. Leptospirosis transmission through eating raw meat of wildlife animals have also been reported (e.g. psychiatric patients with allotriophagy).

Pathogenesis
When animals ingest the bacteria, they circulate in the bloodstream, then lodge themselves into the kidneys through the glomerular or peritubular capillaries. The bacteria then pass into the lumens of the renal tubules and colonise the brush border and proximal convoluted tubule. This causes the continuous shedding of bacteria in the urine without the animal experiencing significant ill effects. This relationship between the animal and the bacteria is known as a commensal relationship, and the animal is known as a reservoir host.

Humans are the accidental host of Leptospira. The pathogenesis of leptospirosis remains poorly understood despite research efforts. The bacteria enter the human body through either breaches in the skin or the mucous membrane, then into the bloodstream. The bacteria later attach to the endothelial cells of the blood vessels and extracellular matrix (complex network of proteins and carbohydrates present between cells). The bacteria use their flagella for moving between cell layers. They bind to cells such as fibroblasts, macrophages, endothelial cells, and kidney epithelial cells. They also bind to several human proteins such as complement proteins, thrombin, fibrinogen, and plasminogen using surface leptospiral immunoglobulin-like (Lig) proteins such as LigB and LipL32, whose genes are found in all pathogenic species.

Through the innate immune system, endothelial cells of the capillaries in the human body are activated by the presence of these bacteria. The endothelial cells produce cytokines and antimicrobial peptides against the bacteria. These products regulate the coagulation cascade and movements of white blood cells. Macrophages presented in humans are able to engulf Leptospira. However, Leptospira are able to reside and proliferate in the cytoplasmic matrix after being ingested by macrophages. Those with severe leptospirosis can experience a high level of cytokines such as interleukin 6, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), and interleukin 10. The high level of cytokines causes sepsis-like symptoms which is life-threatening instead of helping to fight against the infection. Those who have a high risk of sepsis during a leptospirosis infection are found to have the HLA-DQ6 genotype, possibly due to superantigen activation, which damages bodily organs.

Leptospira LPS only activates toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) in monocytes in humans. The lipid A molecule of the bacteria is not recognised by human TLR4 receptors. Therefore, the lack of Leptospira recognition by TLR4 receptors probably contributes to the leptospirosis disease process in humans.

Although there are various mechanisms in the human body to fight against the bacteria, Leptospira is well adapted to such an inflammatory condition created by it. In the bloodstream, it can activate host plasminogen to become plasmin that breaks down extracellular matrix, degrades fibrin clots and complemental proteins (C3b and C5) to avoid opsonisation. It can also recruit complement regulators such as Factor H, C4b-binding protein, factor H-like binding protein, and vitronectin to prevent the activation of membrane attack complex on its surface. It also secretes proteases to degrade complement proteins such as C3. It can bind to thrombin that decreases the fibrin formation. Reduced fibrin formation increases the risk of bleeding. Leptospira also secretes sphingomyelinase and haemolysin that target red blood cells.

Leptospira spreads rapidly to all organs through the bloodstream. They mainly affect the liver. They invade spaces between hepatocytes, causing apoptosis. The damaged hepatocytes and hepatocyte intercellular junctions cause leakage of bile into the bloodstream, causing elevated levels of bilirubin, resulting in jaundice. Congested liver sinusoids and perisinusoidal spaces have been reported. Meanwhile, in the lungs, petechiae or frank bleeding can be found at the alveolar septum and spaces between alveoli. Leptospira secretes toxins that cause mild to severe kidney failure or interstitial nephritis. The kidney failure can recover completely or lead to atrophy and fibrosis. Rarely, inflammation of the heart muscles, coronary arteries, and aorta are found.

Laboratory tests
For those who are infected, a complete blood count may show a high white cell count and a low platelet count. When a low haemoglobin count is present together with a low white cell count and thrombocytopenia, bone marrow suppression should be considered. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein may also be elevated.

The kidneys are commonly involved in leptospirosis. Blood urea and creatinine levels will be elevated. Leptospirosis increases potassium excretion in urine, which leads to a low potassium level and a low sodium level in the blood. Urinalysis may reveal the presence of protein, white blood cells, and microscopic haematuria. Because the bacteria settle in the kidneys, urine cultures will be positive for leptospirosis starting after the second week of illness until 30 days of infection.

For those with liver involvement, transaminases and direct bilirubin are elevated in liver function tests. The Icterohaemorrhagiae serogroup is associated with jaundice and elevated bilirubin levels. Hemolytic anemia contributes to jaundice. A feature of leptospirosis is acute haemolytic anaemia and conjugated hyperbilirubinemia, especially in patients with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency. Abnormal serum amylase and lipase levels (associated with pancreatitis) are found in those who are admitted to hospital due to leptospirosis. Impaired kidney function with creatinine clearance less than 50 ml/min is associated with elevated pancreatic enzymes.

For those with severe headache who show signs of meningitis, a lumbar puncture can be attempted. If infected, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) examination shows lymphocytic predominance with a cell count of about 500/mm3, protein between 50 and 100 mg/mL and normal glucose levels. These findings are consistent with aseptic meningitis.

Serological tests
Rapid detection of Leptospira can be done by quantifying the IgM antibodies using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Typically, L. biflexa antigen is used to detect the IgM antibodies. This test can quickly determine the diagnosis and help in early treatment. However, the test specificity depends upon the type of antigen used and the presence of antibodies from previous infections. The presence of other diseases such as Epstein–Barr virus infection, viral hepatitis, and cytomegalovirus infection can cause false-positive results. Other rapid screening tests have been developed such as dipsticks, latex and slide agglutination tests.

The microscopic agglutination test (MAT) is the reference test for the diagnosis of leptospirosis. MAT is a test where serial dilutions of patient sera are mixed with different serovars of Leptospira. The mixture is then examined under a dark field microscope to look for agglutination. The highest dilution where 50% agglutination occurs is the result. MAT titres of 1:100 to 1:800 are diagnostic of leptospirosis. A fourfold or greater rise in titre of two sera taken at symptoms' onset and three to 10 days of disease onset confirms the diagnosis. During the acute phase of the disease, MAT is not specific in detecting a serotype of Leptospira because of cross-reactivity between the serovars. In the convalescent phase, MAT is more specific in detecting the serovar types. MAT requires a panel of live antigens and requires laborious work.

Molecular tests
Leptospiral DNA can be amplified by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from serum, urine, aqueous humour, CSF, and autopsy specimens. It detects the presence of bacteria faster than MAT during the first few days of infection without waiting for the appearance of antibodies. As PCR detects the presence of leptospiral DNA in the blood it is useful even when the bacteria is killed by antibiotics.

Imaging
In those who have lung involvement, a chest X-ray may demonstrate diffuse alveolar opacities.

Diagnostic criteria
In 1982, the World Health Organization (WHO) proposed the Faine's criteria for the diagnosis of leptospirosis. It consists of three parts: A (clinical findings), B (epidemiological factors), and C (lab findings and bacteriological data). Since the original Faine's criteria only included culture and MAT in part C, which is difficult and complex to perform, the modified Faine's criteria were proposed in 2004 to include ELISA and slide agglutination tests which are easier to perform. In 2012, modified Faine's criteria (with amendment) was proposed to include shortness of breath and coughing up blood in the diagnosis. In 2013, India recommended modified Faine's criteria in the diagnosis of leptospirosis.

Prevention
Rates of leptospirosis can be reduced by improving housing, infrastructure, and sanitation standards. Rodent abatement efforts and flood mitigation projects can also help to prevent it. Proper use of personal protective equipment (PPE) by people who have a high risk of occupational exposure can prevent leptospirosis infections in most cases.

There is no human vaccine suitable for worldwide use. Only a few countries such as Cuba, Japan, France, and China have approved the use of inactivated vaccines with limited protective effects. Side effects such as nausea, injection site redness and swelling have been reported after the vaccine was injected. Since the immunity induced by one Leptospiraserovar is only protective against that specific one, trivalent vaccines have been developed. However, they do not confer long-lasting immunity to humans or animals. Vaccines for other animals are more widely available.

Doxycycline is given once a week as a prophylaxis and is effective in reducing the rate of leptospirosis infections amongst high-risk individuals in flood-prone areas. In one study, it reduced the number of leptospirosis cases in military personnel undergoing exercises in the jungles. In another study, it reduced the number of symptomatic cases after exposure to leptospirosis under heavy rainfall in endemic areas.

The prevention of leptospirosis from the environmental sources like contaminated waterways, soil, sewers, and agricultural fields, is disinfection used by effective microorganisms, which is mixed with bokashi mudballs for the infected waterways & sewers.

Treatment
Most leptospiral cases resolve spontaneously. Early initiation of antibiotics may prevent the progression to severe disease. Therefore, in resource-limited settings, antibiotics can be started once leptospirosis is suspected after history taking and examination.

For mild leptospirosis, antibiotic recommendations such as doxycycline, azithromycin, ampicillin and amoxicillin were based solely on in vitro testing. In 2001, the WHO recommended oral doxycycline (2 mg/kg up to 100 mg every 12 hours) for five to seven days for those with mild leptospirosis. Tetracycline, ampicillin, and amoxicillin can also be used in such cases. However, in areas where both rickettsia and leptospirosis are endemic, azithromycin and doxycycline are the drugs of choice. Doxycycline is not used in cases where the patient suffers from liver damage as it has been linked to hepatotoxicity.

Based on a 1988 study, intravenous (IV) benzylpenicillin (also known as penicillin G) is recommended for the treatment of severe leptospirosis. Intravenous benzylpenicillin (30 mg/kg up to 1.2 g every six hours) is used for five to seven days. Amoxicillin, ampicillin, and erythromycin may also be used for severe cases. Ceftriaxone (1 g IV every 24 hours for seven days) is also effective for severe leptospirosis. Cefotaxime (1 g IV every six hours for seven days) and doxycycline (200 mg initially followed by 100 mg IV every 12 hours for seven days) are equally effective as benzylpenicillin (1.5 million units IV every six hours for seven days). Therefore, there is no evidence on differences in death reduction when benzylpenicillin is compared with ceftriaxone or cefotaxime. Another study conducted in 2007 also showed no difference in efficacy between doxycycline (200 mg initially followed by 100 mg orally every 12 hours for seven days) or azithromycin (2 g on day one followed by 1 g daily for two more days) for suspected leptospirosis. There was no difference in the resolution of fever and azithromycin is better tolerated than doxycycline.

Outpatients are given doxycycline or azithromycin. Doxycycline can shorten the duration of leptospirosis by two days, improve symptoms, and prevent the shedding of organisms in their urine. Azithromycin and amoxicillin are given to pregnant women and children. Rarely, a Jarisch–Herxheimer reaction can develop in the first few hours after antibiotic administration. However, according to a meta-analysis done in 2012, the benefit of antibiotics in the treatment of leptospirosis was unclear although the use of antibiotics may reduce the duration of illness by two to four days. Another meta-analysis done in 2013 reached a similar conclusion.

For those with severe leptospirosis, including potassium wasting with high kidney output dysfunction, intravenous hydration and potassium supplements can prevent dehydration and hypokalemia. When acute kidney failure occurs, early initiation of haemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis can help to improve survival. For those with respiratory failure, tracheal intubation with low tidal volume improves survival rates.

Corticosteroids have been proposed to suppress inflammation in leptospirosis because Leptospira infection can induce the release of chemical signals which promote inflammation of blood vessels in the lungs. However, there is insufficient evidence to determine whether the use of corticosteroids is beneficial.

Prognosis
The overall risk of death for leptospirosis is 5–10%. For those with jaundice, the case fatality can increase up to 15%. For those infected who present with confusion and neurological signs, there is a high risk of death. Other factors that increase the risk of death include reduced urine output, age more than 36 years, and respiratory failure. With proper care, most of those infected will recover completely. Those with acute kidney failure may develop persistent mild kidney impairment after they recover. In those with severe lung involvement, the risk of death is 50–70%. Thirty percent of people with acute leptospirosis complained of long-lasting symptoms characterised by weakness, muscle pain, and headaches.

Eye complications
Eye problems can occur in 10% of those who recovered from leptospirosis in the range from two weeks to a few years post-infection. Most commonly, eye complications can occur at six months after the infection. This is due to the immune privilege of the eye which protects it from immunological damage during the initial phase of leptospiral infection. These complications can range from mild anterior uveitis to severe panuveitis (which involves all three vascular layers of the eye). The uveitis is more commonly happen in young to middle-aged males and those working in agricultural farming. In up to 80% of those infected, Leptospira DNA can be found in the aqueous humour of the eye. Eye problems usually have a good prognosis following treatment or they are self-limiting. In anterior uveitis, only topical steroids and mydriatics (an agent that causes dilation of the pupil) are needed while in panuveitis, it requires periocular corticosteroids. Leptospiral uveitis is characterised by hypopyon, rapidly maturing cataract, free floating vitreous membranes, disc hyperemia and retinal vasculitis.

Epidemiology
It is estimated that one million severe cases of leptospirosis occur annually, with 58,900 deaths. Severe cases account for 5–15% of all leptospirosis cases. Leptospirosis is found in both urban and rural areas in tropical, subtropical, and temperate regions. The global health burden for leptospirosis can be measured by disability-adjusted life year (DALY). The score is 42 per 100,000 people per year, which is more than other diseases such as rabies and filariasis.

The disease is observed persistently in parts of Asia, Oceania, the Caribbean, Latin America and Africa. Antarctica is the only place not affected by leptospirosis. In the United States, there were 100 to 150 leptospirosis cases annually. In 1994, leptospirosis ceased to be a notifiable disease in the United States except in 36 states/territories where it is prevalent such as Hawaii, Texas, California, and Puerto Rico. About 50% of the reported cases occurred in Puerto Rico. In January 2013, leptospirosis was reinstated as a nationally notifiable disease in the United States. Research on epidemiology of leptospirosis in high-risk groups and risk factors is limited in India.

The global rates of leptospirosis have been underestimated because most affected countries lack notification or notification is not mandatory. Distinguishing clinical signs of leptospirosis from other diseases and lack of laboratory diagnostic services are other problems. The socioeconomic status of many of the world's population is closely tied to malnutrition; subsequent lack of micronutrients may lead to increased risk of infection and death due to leptospirosis infection. Micronutrients such as iron, calcium, and magnesium represent important areas for future research.

History
The disease was first described by Adolf Weil in 1886 when he reported an "acute infectious disease with enlargement of spleen, jaundice, and nephritis." Before Weil's description, the disease was known as "rice field jaundice" in ancient Chinese text, "autumn fever", "seven-day fever", and "nanukayami fever" in Japan; in Europe and Australia, the disease was associated with certain occupations and given names such as "cane-cutter's disease", "swine-herd's disease", and "Schlammfieber" (mud fever). It has been known historically as "black jaundice", or "dairy farm fever" in New Zealand. Leptospirosis was postulated as the cause of an epidemic among Native Americans along the coast of what is now New England during 1616–1619. The disease was most likely brought to the New World by Europeans.

Leptospira was first observed in 1907 in a post mortem kidney tissue slice by Arthur Stimson using silver deposition staining technique. He called the organism Spirocheta interrogans because the bacteria resembled a question mark. In 1908, a Japanese research group led by Ryukichi Inada and Yutaka Ito first identified this bacterium as the causative agent of leptospirosis and noted its presence in rats in 1916. Japanese coal mine workers frequently contracted leptospirosis. In Japan, the organism was named Spirocheta icterohaemorrhagiae. The Japanese group also experimented with the first leptospiral immunisation studies in guinea pigs. They demonstrated that by injecting the infected guinea pigs with sera from convalescent humans or goats, passive immunity could be provided to the guinea pigs. In 1917, the Japanese group discovered rats as the carriers of leptospirosis. Unaware of the Japanese group's work, two German groups independently and almost simultaneously published their first demonstration of transmitting leptospiral infection in guinea pigs in October 1915. They named the organism Spirochaeta nodosa and Spirochaeta Icterogenes respectively.

Leptospirosis was subsequently recognised as a disease of all mammalian species. In 1933, Dutch workers reported the isolation of Leptospira canicola which specifically infects dogs. In 1940, the strain that specifically infects cattle was first reported in Russia. In 1942, soldiers at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, were recorded to have an infectious disease which caused a rash over their shinbones. This disease was later known to be caused by leptospirosis. By the 1950s, the number of serovars that infected various mammals had expanded significantly. In the 1980s, leptospirosis was recognised as a veterinary disease of major economic importance.

In 1982, there were about 200 serovars of Leptospira available for classification. The International Committee on Systematic Bacteriology's subcommittee on taxonomy of Leptospira proposed classifying these serovars into two big groups: L. interrogans containing pathogenic serovars and L. biflexa containing saprophytic serovars. In 1979, the leptospiral family of Leptospiraceae was proposed. In the same year, Leptospira illini was reclassified as the new genus Leptonema. In 2002, "Lepthangamushi syndrome" was coined to describe a series of overlapping symptoms of leptospirosis with Hantavirus hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, and scrub typhus caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi. In 2005, Leptospira parva was classified as Turneriella. With DNA-DNA hybridisation technology, L. interrogans was divided into seven species. More Leptospira species have been discovered since then. The WHO established the Leptospirosis Burden Epidemiology Reference Group (LERG) to review the latest disease epidemiological data of leptospirosis, formulate a disease transmission model, and identify gaps in knowledge and research. The first meeting was convened in 2009. In 2011, LERG estimated that the global yearly rate of leptospirosis is five to 14 cases per 100,000 population.

Other animals
Infected animals can have no, mild, or severe symptoms; the presenting symptoms may vary by the type of animal. In some animals the bacteria live in the reproductive tract, leading to transmission during mating.

Animals also present with similar clinical features when compared to humans. Clinical signs can appear in 5–15 days in dogs. The incubation period can be prolonged in cats. Leptospirosis can cause abortions after 2–12 weeks in cattle, and 1–4 weeks of infection in pigs. The illness tends to be milder in reservoir hosts. The most commonly affected organs are the kidneys, liver, and reproductive system, but other organs can be affected. In dogs, the acute clinical signs include fever, loss of appetite, shivering, muscle pain, weakness, and urinary symptoms. Vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain may also present. Petechiae and ecchymoses may be seen on mucous membranes. Bleeding from the lungs may also be seen in dogs. In chronic presentations, the affected dog may have no symptoms. In animals that have died of leptospirosis, their kidneys may be swollen with grey and white spots, mottling, or scarring. Their liver may be enlarged with areas of cell death. Petechiae and ecchymoses may be found in various organs. Inflammation of the blood vessels, inflammation of the heart, meningeal layers covering the brain and spinal cord, and uveitis are also possible. Equine recurrent uveitis (ERU) is the most common disease associated with Leptospira infection in horses in North America and may lead to blindness. ERU is an autoimmune disease involving antibodies against Leptospira proteins LruA and LruB cross-reacting with eye proteins. Live Leptospira can be recovered from the aqueous or vitreous fluid of many horses with Leptospira-associated ERU. Risk of death or disability in infected animals varies depending upon the species and age of the animals. In adult pigs and cattle, reproductive signs are the most common signs of leptospirosis. Up to 40% of cows may have a spontaneous abortion. Younger animals usually develop more severe disease. About 80% of dogs can survive with treatment, but the survival rate is reduced if the lungs are involved.

ELISA and microscopic agglutination tests are most commonly used to diagnose leptospirosis in animals. The bacteria can be detected in blood, urine, and milk or liver, kidney, or other tissue samples by using immunofluorescence or immunohistochemical or polymerase chain reaction techniques. Silver staining or immunogold silver staining is used to detect Leptospira in tissue sections. The organisms stain poorly with Gram stain. Dark-field microscopy can be used to detect Leptospira in body fluids, but it is neither sensitive nor specific in detecting the organism. A positive culture for leptospirosis is definitive, but the availability is limited, and culture results can take 13–26 weeks for a result, limiting its utility. Paired acute and convalescent samples are preferred for serological diagnosis of leptospirosis in animals. A positive serological sample from an aborted fetus is also diagnostic of leptospirosis.

Various antibiotics such as doxycycline, penicillins, dihydrostreptomycin, and streptomycin have been used to treat leptospirosis in animals. Fluid therapy, blood transfusion, and respiratory support may be required in severe disease. For horses with ERU, the primary treatment is with anti-inflammatory drugs.

Leptospirosis vaccines are available for animals such as pigs, dogs, cattle, sheep, and goats. Vaccines for cattle usually contain Leptospira serovar Hardjo and Pomona, for dogs, the vaccines usually contain serovar Icterohaemorrhagiae and Canicola. Vaccines containing multiple serovars do not work for cattle as well as vaccines containing a single serovar, yet the multivalent vaccines continue to be sold. Isolation of infected animals and prophylactic antibiotics are also effective in preventing leptospirosis transmission between animals. Environmental control and sanitation also reduce transmission rates.

title: Leptospirosis


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Talk:Fundamental representation

I'm not exactly sure what the scope of this idea is. For example, taking a representation and its contragredient and all tensor products, and decomposing, may not be exactly the same thing in some cases; though I expect it is in many cases of interest.

The Tannakian category thing is a sledgehammer, and I'm aware of that.

Charles Matthews 11:18, 12 May 2004 (UTC)

Dear Charles, how can I edit these pages in a more automatic way, so that the date and time is here immediately?

 * You need to type ~ four times for sig+time stamp, three times for signature only.Charles Matthews

Yes, I would not claim that the definition is mathematically rigorous; it is rather describing the rough flavor how this word is used in particle physics - and I guess that particle physicists use the word "fundamental representation" more often than the mathematicians. For example, I am not sure whether the physicists would agree that one must include the tensor products with the dual (anti-fundamental) representations, too. In most cases it does not matter - for example Nbar of SU(N) can be obtained from N-1-th power of N.

User:Lumidek

 * Well, there is going to be some theory about this, for a given class of groups. For example for compact groups, it has to come somehow out of the Peter-Weyl theorem.

 * One approach is this: starting with a representation you say, OK, create all the representations that come as direct summands out of tensor powers. Then you should get a collection of representations that is closed under tensor power, and direct summands (in the good case of complete reducibility, under subquotients, which says really 'anything you can get ypur hands on'); what is this? With a theorem saying "it's representations of something", you can probably say, either it's the group we had first, or some quotient.

 * So the other way is, take all the matrix coefficients like  for fixed v and w in a representation, and generate a ring with them. Then if this is good at 'separating points' in your group, one expects that matrix coefficients of big tensor powers will 'find' functions that also separate out points. From there, getting to having enough functions that are constant on conjugacy classes, i.e. group characters, is sort of expected. (This is vague - I know the other way somewhat better.)

 * In the end for the kind of example cited here, there are probably more direct ways. Charles Matthews 14:22, 12 May 2004 (UTC)

In light of the fact that fundamental representations, at least, according to Lumidek's definition are highly nonunique, in what sense is it right to speak of THE fundamental rep instead of A fundamental rep? Phys 20:44, 2 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Why do you need compactness and simply connectedness? The highest weight theory works well rather for semisimple Lie groups (that is, in my opinion, the proper context). The following sentence is very confusing for me: "The corresponding irreducible representations are the fundamental representations of the Lie group. In particular, from the expansion of a dominant weight in terms of the fundamental weights, one can take a corresponding tensor product of the fundamental representations..." So, what is the fundamental representation? Any representation with an integral dominant highest weight? As far as I know, fundamental representations are representations with highest weight that is some fundamental weight -- so easy it is. Franp9am 07:25, 16 September 2006 (UTC)

title: Talk:Fundamental representation