Hedgehogs and Squirrels as Hosts of Zoonotic Bartonella Species.

Karolina Majerová,Ricardo Gutiérrez,David Modrý,Paulina Maria Lesiczka,Václav Hönig,Shimon Harrus,Daniel Růžek,Yaarit Nachum-Biala,Manoj Fonville,Petr Papežík,Jan Votýpka,Lada Hofmannová,Hein Sprong

doi:10.3390/pathogens10060686

Abstract

Free-living animals frequently play a key role in the circulation of various zoonotic vector-borne pathogens. Bacteria of the genus Bartonella are transmitted by blood-feeding arthropods and infect a large range of mammals. Although only several species have been identified as causative agents of human disease, it has been proposed that any Bartonella species found in animals may be capable of infecting humans. Within a wide-ranging survey in various geographical regions of the Czech Republic, cadavers of accidentally killed synurbic mammalian species, namely Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris), European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) and Northern white-breasted hedgehog (Erinaceus roumanicus), were sampled and tested for Bartonella presence using multiple PCR reaction approach targeting several DNA loci. We demonstrate that cadavers constitute an available and highly useful source of biological material for pathogen screening. High infection rates of Bartonella spp., ranging from 24% to 76%, were confirmed for all three tested mammalian species, and spleen, ear, lung and liver tissues were demonstrated as the most suitable for Bartonella DNA detection. The wide spectrum of Bartonella spp. that were identified includes three species with previously validated zoonotic potential, B. grahamii, B. melophagi and B. washoensis, accompanied by ‘Candidatus B. rudakovii’ and two putative novel species, Bartonella sp. ERIN and Bartonella sp. SCIER.

Highlights

Bartonellae are vector-borne, facultative intracellular, fastidious, gram-negative alpha2-proteobacteria with significant zoonotic potential
Free-ranging vertebrates living in urban ecosystems can serve as reservoirs for zoonotic pathogens. This likely has important yet unknown consequences for the transmission dynamics of vector-borne pathogens, for those which can cause persistent infections and have a relatively broad host range. This holds true for Bartonella spp., which is transmitted by various arthropod species and/or via animal bites and scratches and which displays high zoonotic potential (Table S1)
We focused on three vertebrate species: the European hedgehog, the Northern white-breasted hedgehog, and the Eurasian red squirrel and their role as hosts of Bartonella spp

Summary

Introduction

Bartonellae are vector-borne, facultative intracellular, fastidious, gram-negative alpha2-proteobacteria with significant zoonotic potential. The genus Bartonella represents an ecologically successful group of bacteria distributed worldwide that has been found in 4.0/). A wide spectrum of blood-feeding arthropods and vertebrates, including humans [1,2,3] (Table S1). There are 53 proposed Bartonella species and seven subspecies with a taxonomic name recognized by the National Center for Biotechnology Information database [4]. Only 37 species and three subspecies have been validly published under the rules of the International Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria (Bacteriological Code) [5]. New species and subspecies from all over the world are continuously being recognized. As candidate species from a wide range of animal reservoirs have been described but not yet assigned, the number of described taxa is steadily growing [6]

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion