Identification of Tenrec ecaudatus, a Wild Mammal Introduced to Mayotte Island, as a Reservoir of the Newly Identified Human Pathogenic Leptospira mayottensis

• Published in: PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
• Main Authors: Lagadec, Erwan, Gomard, Yann, Le Minter, Gildas, Cordonin, Colette, Cardinale, Eric, Ramasindrazana, Beza, Dietrich, Muriel, Goodman, Steven M, Tortosa, Pablo, Dellagi, Koussay
• Other Authors: Centre de Recherche et de Veille sur les Maladies Émergentes dans l'Océan Indien (CRVOI), Université de La Réunion (UR), Processus Infectieux en Milieu Insulaire Tropical (PIMIT), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-IRD-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Université de La Réunion (UR), Cyclotron Réunion Océan Indien (CYROI), Université de La Réunion (UR)-Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de La Réunion (CHU La Réunion), Contrôle des maladies animales exotiques et émergentes (UMR CMAEE), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad), Field Museum of Natural History Chicago, USA, Association Vahatra Antananarivo, Madagascar, PEPS EcoSan BatMan
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2016
• Subjects: [SDV.BID.EVO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity/Populations and Evolution [q-bio.PE]; [SDV.EE.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology; environment/Ecosystems; [SDV.EE.SANT]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology; environment/Health; [SDV.MP.BAC]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Microbiology and Parasitology/Bacteriology; Indian; Rattus rattus
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01371143; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01371143/document; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01371143/file/journal.pntd.0004933.PDF; https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0004933

International audience Leptospirosis is a bacterial zoonosis of major concern on tropical islands. Human populations on western Indian Ocean islands are strongly affected by the disease although each archipelago shows contrasting epidemiology. For instance, Mayotte, part of the Comoros Archipelago, differs from the other neighbouring islands by a high diversity of Leptospira species infecting humans that includes Leptospira mayottensis, a species thought to be unique to this island. Using bacterial culture, molecular detection and typing, the present study explored the wild and domestic local mammalian fauna for renal carriage of leptospires and addressed the genetic relationships of the infecting strains with local isolates obtained from acute human cases and with Leptospira strains hosted by mammal species endemic to nearby Madagascar. Tenrec (Tenrec ecaudatus, Family Tenrecidae), a terrestrial mammal introduced from Madagascar, is identified as a reservoir of L. mayottensis. All isolated L. mayottensis sequence types form a monophyletic clade that includes Leptospira strains infecting humans and tenrecs on Mayotte, as well as two other Malagasy endemic tenrecid species of the genus Microgale. The lower diversity of L. mayottensis in tenrecs from Mayotte, compared to that occurring in Madagascar, suggests that L. mayottensis has indeed a Malagasy origin. This study also showed that introduced rats (Rattus rattus) and dogs are probably the main reservoirs of Leptospira borgpetersenii and Leptospira kirschneri, both bacteria being prevalent in local clinical cases. Data emphasize the epidemiological link between the two neighbouring islands and the role of introduced small mammals in shaping the local epidemiology of leptospirosis.