Bacterial pathogens in lice collected from small redents
Wild rodents are important hosts of Bartonella and Rickettsia species and some species of these bacteria are considered to be pathogenic for humans. Although rodent ectoparasites, such as fleas and ticks, are known as vectors of Bartonella spp. and Rickettsia spp., there are limited data on the prev...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Other/Unknown Material |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://btc.vdu.lt/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/ABSTRACT-BOOK-BTC-2021.pdf https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12259/127840 |
| Summary: | Wild rodents are important hosts of Bartonella and Rickettsia species and some species of these bacteria are considered to be pathogenic for humans. Although rodent ectoparasites, such as fleas and ticks, are known as vectors of Bartonella spp. and Rickettsia spp., there are limited data on the prevalence of these bacteria in other rodent ectoparasites – lice. More than half of described blood-sucking lice species are found on rodents. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of Bartonella and Rickettsia species in lice collected from rodents in Slovakia. Small rodents were live-captured between 2010 and 2015 at four different sites in eastern Slovakia. A total of 1074 lice belonging to seven species (28 Hoplopleura acanthopus, 732 Hoplopleura affinis, 1 Hoplopleura edentula, 7 Hoplopleura sp., 225 Polyplax serrata, 79 Polyplax spinulosa, and 2 Polyplax sp.) were collected from 216 small rodents representing six species (Apodemus agrarius n=151, Apodemus flavicollis n=35, Microtus arvalis n=13, Microtus subterraneus n=2, Myodes glareolus n=11 and Rattus norvegicus n=4). Lice were tested for Bartonella and Rickettsia pathogens by real-time PCR targeting the ssrA and gltA gene respectively. Bartonella spp. were found in H. affinis lice species collected from A. agrarius, A. flavicollis, M. glareolus rodent species and in one P. serrata louse collected from A. agrarius. Sequence analysis revealed that the Bartonella strains belonged to the B. coopersplainsensis, B. tribocorum, B. taylorii genogroups. Rickettsia DNR were detected in H. affinis and P. serrata lice collected from A. agrarius and in P. serrata collected from A. flavicollis. Sequence analysis revealed the presence of Rickettsia helvetica and Rickettsia sp. To the best of authors knowledge, this study is the first investigation of rodent-associated bacterial pathogens Rickettsia and Bartonella in lice parasitizing rodents in Europe Biologijos katedra Gamtos mokslų fakultetas Vytauto Didžiojo universitetas |
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