Eco-epidemiology of rodent-associated trombiculid mites and infection with Orientia spp. in Southern Chile
Background Scrub typhus is a potentially severe infection caused by bacteria of the genus Orientia , endemic in Asia-Pacific and recently discovered in southern Chile. The presented study aimed to determine the prevalence and species richness of rodent-associated trombiculid mites and their infectio...
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crplos:10.1371/journal.pntd.0011051 2024-05-19T07:31:01+00:00 Eco-epidemiology of rodent-associated trombiculid mites and infection with Orientia spp. in Southern Chile Silva de la Fuente, María Carolina Pérez, Caricia Martínez-Valdebenito, Constanza Pérez, Ruth Vial, Cecilia Stekolnikov, Alexandr Abarca, Katia Weitzel, Thomas Acosta-Jamett, Gerardo Ricaldi, Jessica N. Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Ministry of Science and Higher Education 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0011051 https://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0011051 en eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases volume 17, issue 1, page e0011051 ISSN 1935-2735 journal-article 2023 crplos https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0011051 2024-05-01T07:09:51Z Background Scrub typhus is a potentially severe infection caused by bacteria of the genus Orientia , endemic in Asia-Pacific and recently discovered in southern Chile. The presented study aimed to determine the prevalence and species richness of rodent-associated trombiculid mites and their infection with Orientia spp. in different areas of two regions in southern Chile. Methodology/Principal findings During summer 2020, trombiculid mites were collected from rodents captured in three areas in southern Chile known to be endemic for scrub typhus (Cochamó and Chiloé Island in the Los Lagos Region and Tortel in the Aysén Region). A total of 132 rodents belonging to five species were captured using Sherman-like traps; 89.4% were infested with trombiculids. Mite specimens were morphologically identified and subsequently tested by Orientia -specific qPCR. Six mite species were identified. Among chigger-infested rodents, 33.9% carried Orientia -positive mites; this rate was higher in Tortel (63.8%) than in Cochamó (45.0%) and Chiloé Island (2.0%). The analysis of individual mites (n = 901) revealed that 31.2% of Herpetacarus antarctica samples (n = 202) were positive for Orientia DNA; the prevalence was 7.0% in Paratrombicula neuquenensis (n = 213), 6.9% in Herpetacarus eloisae (n = 144), 3.6% in Argentinacarus expansus (n = 55), and 0% in Paratrombicula goffi (n = 110) and Quadraseta chiloensis (n = 177). The southernmost site (Tortel) showed the highest rates of trombiculid infestation, trombiculid load, and Orientia infection in the captured rodents. Conclusions/Significance Our study provides new insights into the trombiculid fauna and prevalence of Orientia in mites collected from wild rodents in southern Chile. Orientia DNA was detected in four of the six mite species. Rates of infestation, mite loads, and Orientia prevalences differed geographically and were highest in the Aysén Region. Our data improve our knowledge on possible vectors of scrub typhus and their distribution in Chile. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica Mite PLOS PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 17 1 e0011051 |
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English |
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Background Scrub typhus is a potentially severe infection caused by bacteria of the genus Orientia , endemic in Asia-Pacific and recently discovered in southern Chile. The presented study aimed to determine the prevalence and species richness of rodent-associated trombiculid mites and their infection with Orientia spp. in different areas of two regions in southern Chile. Methodology/Principal findings During summer 2020, trombiculid mites were collected from rodents captured in three areas in southern Chile known to be endemic for scrub typhus (Cochamó and Chiloé Island in the Los Lagos Region and Tortel in the Aysén Region). A total of 132 rodents belonging to five species were captured using Sherman-like traps; 89.4% were infested with trombiculids. Mite specimens were morphologically identified and subsequently tested by Orientia -specific qPCR. Six mite species were identified. Among chigger-infested rodents, 33.9% carried Orientia -positive mites; this rate was higher in Tortel (63.8%) than in Cochamó (45.0%) and Chiloé Island (2.0%). The analysis of individual mites (n = 901) revealed that 31.2% of Herpetacarus antarctica samples (n = 202) were positive for Orientia DNA; the prevalence was 7.0% in Paratrombicula neuquenensis (n = 213), 6.9% in Herpetacarus eloisae (n = 144), 3.6% in Argentinacarus expansus (n = 55), and 0% in Paratrombicula goffi (n = 110) and Quadraseta chiloensis (n = 177). The southernmost site (Tortel) showed the highest rates of trombiculid infestation, trombiculid load, and Orientia infection in the captured rodents. Conclusions/Significance Our study provides new insights into the trombiculid fauna and prevalence of Orientia in mites collected from wild rodents in southern Chile. Orientia DNA was detected in four of the six mite species. Rates of infestation, mite loads, and Orientia prevalences differed geographically and were highest in the Aysén Region. Our data improve our knowledge on possible vectors of scrub typhus and their distribution in Chile. |
author2 |
Ricaldi, Jessica N. Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Ministry of Science and Higher Education |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Silva de la Fuente, María Carolina Pérez, Caricia Martínez-Valdebenito, Constanza Pérez, Ruth Vial, Cecilia Stekolnikov, Alexandr Abarca, Katia Weitzel, Thomas Acosta-Jamett, Gerardo |
spellingShingle |
Silva de la Fuente, María Carolina Pérez, Caricia Martínez-Valdebenito, Constanza Pérez, Ruth Vial, Cecilia Stekolnikov, Alexandr Abarca, Katia Weitzel, Thomas Acosta-Jamett, Gerardo Eco-epidemiology of rodent-associated trombiculid mites and infection with Orientia spp. in Southern Chile |
author_facet |
Silva de la Fuente, María Carolina Pérez, Caricia Martínez-Valdebenito, Constanza Pérez, Ruth Vial, Cecilia Stekolnikov, Alexandr Abarca, Katia Weitzel, Thomas Acosta-Jamett, Gerardo |
author_sort |
Silva de la Fuente, María Carolina |
title |
Eco-epidemiology of rodent-associated trombiculid mites and infection with Orientia spp. in Southern Chile |
title_short |
Eco-epidemiology of rodent-associated trombiculid mites and infection with Orientia spp. in Southern Chile |
title_full |
Eco-epidemiology of rodent-associated trombiculid mites and infection with Orientia spp. in Southern Chile |
title_fullStr |
Eco-epidemiology of rodent-associated trombiculid mites and infection with Orientia spp. in Southern Chile |
title_full_unstemmed |
Eco-epidemiology of rodent-associated trombiculid mites and infection with Orientia spp. in Southern Chile |
title_sort |
eco-epidemiology of rodent-associated trombiculid mites and infection with orientia spp. in southern chile |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0011051 https://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0011051 |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica Mite |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica Mite |
op_source |
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases volume 17, issue 1, page e0011051 ISSN 1935-2735 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0011051 |
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PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
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17 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
e0011051 |
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1799468850382635008 |