Molecular detection of Hemoprotozoa and Rickettsia species in arthropods collected from wild animals in the province of Burgos, Spain
Authors
Lledó García, María Lourdes; Giménez Pardo, Consuelo; Domínguez Peñafiel, Fermín Gerardo; Gegúndez Cámara, María Isabel; Sousa, Rita; [et al.]Identifiers
Permanent link (URI): http://hdl.handle.net/10017/61155DOI: 10.1089/vbz.2009.0114
ISSN: 1530-3667
Date
2010-10Bibliographic citation
Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases, 2010, v. 10, n. 8, p. 735-738
Keywords
Babesia
Epidemiology
Hepatozoon
Rickettsia
vector-borne
Document type
info:eu-repo/semantics/article
Version
info:eu-repo/semantics/aceptedVersion
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
© Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
Access rights
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Abstract
Limited information on the presence of bacterial and hematozoan infections in parasitic arthropods from Spain is available. In an attempt to address this issue, the prevalence of Theileria, Babesia, Hepatozoon, and Rickettsia species was investigated by polymerase chain reaction plus sequencing. In a survey for zoonotic pathogens in ectoparasites, 42 wild animals (which included rodents, carnivores, Sciuridae, and Cervidae) were captured in Burgos (Spain). A total of 256 arthropods (including 107 ticks, 76 fleas, and 73 mites) were collected from these mammals. Molecular diagnostic results showed that (i) Rickettsia felis was found in fleas (two Ctenocephalides felis), (ii) Hepatozoon sp. infected some fleas (two Ctenophtalmus sp. and a DNA pool of Ceratophyllus sciurorum) and Acari (one Neotrombicula sp.), and (iii) Theileria annae was found in Ixodes ricinus and I. hexagonus (each a single infected specimen). All microorganisms and parasites were genetically identical to pathogens already described in Spain or elsewhere. Infected arthropods were recovered from beech marten, bank vole, squirrel, wood mouse, and red fox. Our findings emphasize the potential risk for transmission of rickettsias to humans (namely, R. felis) in Burgos, since C. felis is capable to seek out humans for feeding. No hemoprotozoa with proven significance as human pathogens were found in the survey. However, finding T. annae in ticks recovered from wild canids suggests possible links of sylvatic and domestic cycles for some Piroplasmida.
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Molecular_Lledo_VectBorne_2010.pdf | 395.6Kb |
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