Molecular survey of rodent-borne Trypanosoma in Niger with special emphasis on T. lewisi imported by invasive black rats

• Published in: Acta Tropica
• Main Authors: Dobigny, Gauthier, Poirier, Philippe, Hima, Karmadine, Cabaret, Odile, Gauthier, Philippe, Tatard, Caroline, Costa, Jean-Marc, Bretagne, Stéphane
• Other Authors: Centre de Biologie pour la Gestion des Populations (UMR CBGP), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques (Montpellier SupAgro)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD France-Sud )-Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro), Laboratoire Microorganismes : Génome et Environnement (LMGE), Université Blaise Pascal - Clermont-Ferrand 2 (UBP)-Université d'Auvergne - Clermont-Ferrand I (UdA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire de Biologie Moléculaire, Hôpital américain, French "Agence Nationale pour la Recherche" ANR-05-JC05-48631
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2011
• Subjects: zoonotic emerging disease; rattus rattus; quantitative real-time PCR; RAT; biological invasion; africa; maladies émergentes; invasions biologiques; [SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio]; [SDV.MP]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Microbiology and Parasitology; Rattus rattus
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-01113935; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actatropica.2010.11.004

Contact: [e-mail] International audience Invading rodent species can harbor parasites with potential transmission to native rodents and/or humans. To investigate trypanosomes prevalence in rodents, the spleen of 76 rodents from Niger identified by their karyotype was used as a DNA source for Trypanosoma detection using a newly developed qPCR assay. Of the invasive black rat, Rattus rattus, 71% (10/14) were PCR positive as well as 6% (4/62) of native African rodents. Sequences of 400 bp of the SSU rDNA gene identified phylogenetically close Trypanosoma lineages. Trypanosoma lewisi was present in all positive black rats and the sequences displayed 100% similarity with T. lewisi-infected humans in Senegal. T. lewisi was also detected in one Acomys johannis, suggesting a possible transmission to native species. In addition to improved knowledge of Trypanosoma diversity in rodents, our data underscore the introduction of the potentially pathogenic T. lewisi kinetoplastid through the human-mediated invasion of black rats all over West Africa