Elucidating transmission dynamics and host-parasite-vector relationships for rodent-borne Bartonella spp. in Madagascar

• Published in: Epidemics
• Main Authors: Brook, Cara, E, Bai, Ying, Yu, Emily, O, Ranaivoson, Hafaliana, C, Shin, Haewon, Dobson, Andrew, P, Metcalf, C. Jessica, E, Kosoy, Michael, y, Dittmar, Katharina
• Other Authors: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Princeton, Princeton University, Division of Vector-Borne Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Unité de Virologie Antananarivo, Madagascar (IPM), Institut Pasteur de Madagascar, Réseau International des Instituts Pasteur (RIIP)-Réseau International des Instituts Pasteur (RIIP), Department of Animal Biology, Université d'Antananarivo, Department of Biological Sciences Buffalo, University at Buffalo SUNY (SUNY Buffalo), State University of New York (SUNY)-State University of New York (SUNY), CEB gratefully acknowledges funding from the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program, the National Geographic Society Young Explorers Grant Program (YEG #9269-13) and Princeton University’s Centre for Health and Well-being. The authors acknowledge the CDC’sGlobal Diseases Detection Program (YB and MYK), a Wellcome Trust Sustaining Health Grant (106866/Z/15/Z; CJEM), the Bill and Melinda GatesFoundation (CJEM), and a National Science Foundation Division of Environmental Biology grant (1050793; KD) for additional financial support
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2017
• Subjects: Bartonella spp; Rattus rattus; Synopsyllus fonquerniei; Madagascar; Force of infection; [SDV.EE.IEO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology; environment/Symbiosis; [SDV.MP.BAC]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Microbiology and Parasitology/Bacteriology; [SDV.SPEE]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Santé publique et épidémiologie
• Online Access: https://riip.hal.science/pasteur-01669060; https://riip.hal.science/pasteur-01669060/document; https://riip.hal.science/pasteur-01669060/file/elucidating_transmission%20dynamics%20and%20host-parasite%20relationships_Brooktetal2017.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epidem.2017.03.004

International audience Bartonella spp. are erythrocytic bacteria transmitted via arthropod vectors, which infect a broad range of vertebrate hosts, including humans. We investigated transmission dynamics and host-parasite-vector relationships for potentially zoonotic Bartonella spp. in invasive Rattus rattus hosts and associated arthro-pod ectoparasites in Madagascar. We identified five distinct species of Bartonella (B. elizabethae 1, B. elizabethae 2, B. phoceensis 1, B. rattimassiliensis 1, and B. tribocorum 1) infecting R. rattus rodents and their ectoparasites. We fit standard epidemiological models to species-specific age-prevalence data for the four Bartonella spp. with sufficient data, thus quantifying age-structured force of infection. Known zoonotic agents, B. elizabethae 1 and 2, were best described by models exhibiting high forces of infection in early age class individuals and allowing for recovery from infection, while B. phoceensis 1 and B. rattimassiliensis 1 were best fit by models of lifelong infection without recovery and substantially lower forces of infection. Nested sequences of B. elizabethae 1 and 2 were recovered from rodent hosts and their Synopsyllus fonquerniei and Xenopsylla cheopsis fleas, with a particularly high prevalence in the outdoor-dwelling, highland-endemic S. fonquerniei. These findings expand on force of infection analyses to elucidate the ecological niche of the zoonotic Bartonella elizabethae complex in Madagascar, hinting at a potential vector role for S. fonquerniei. Our analyses underscore the uniqueness of such ecologies for Bartonella species, which pose a variable range of potential zoonotic threats.