Molecular detection of Leishmania infantum and Leishmania tropica in rodent species from endemic cutaneous leishmaniasis areas in Morocco

Mohamed Echchakery,Ali Boumezzough,Javier Nieto,Ortega Sheila,Javier Moreno,Samia Boussaa,Samia Boussaa,Carmen Chicharro,Eugenia Carrillo

doi:10.1186/s13071-017-2398-8

Abstract

BackgroundLeishmaniasis remains a major public health problem in African nations, including Morocco, where little is known about the vertebrate reservoirs involved in the causal parasites’ transmission cycles. The present study investigates the role of rodent species as potential reservoirs of Leishmania spp. in central Morocco, where both L. tropica and L. infantum have been reported.MethodsRodents were caught from 22 sites in central Morocco, by using Sherman metal traps, and identified morphologically. For each specimen, genomic DNA was extracted from different tissues using the Speed Tools DNA extraction Kit. Then, samples were PCR-analyzed, targeting the SSU rRNA gene to detect Leishmania spp. DNA, followed by amplification of the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) and its sequencing to identify the species.ResultsA total of 197 rodents belonging to ten species were captured and identified: Rattus rattus (40.61%), Mus musculus (25.38%), Apodemus sylvaticus (8.63%), Mus spretus (7.11%), Meriones shawi (5.58%), Rattus norvegicus (4.57%), Meriones libycus (3.05%), Mastomys erythroleucus (2.03%), Gerbillus campestris (2.03%) and Lemniscomys barbarus (1.01%). Molecular analysis revealed the presence of Leishmania species in 18 specimens: six R. rattus (out of 80 captured; 7.5%), 11 M. musculus (out of 50 captured; 22%), and one R. norvegicus (out of 9 captured; 11.11%).ConclusionsTo the best of our knowledge, L. infantum and L. tropica were identified in rodent species for the first time in Morocco. These findings suggest that rodent species may be involved in L. infantum and L. tropica transmission cycles in this country but that further studies are needed to confirm their role as reservoirs of Leishmania species in Morocco.

Highlights

Leishmaniasis remains a major public health problem in African nations, including Morocco, where little is known about the vertebrate reservoirs involved in the causal parasites’ transmission cycles
Natural Leishmania infections have been reported in many rodent species, such as Mus musculus, Rattus norvegicus, Rattus rattus and Apodemus sylvaticus [7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17]
A total of 197 animals belonging to 10 rodent species were captured (Table 2): 80 Rattus rattus (40.61%), 50 Mus musculus (25.38%), 17 Apodemus sylvaticus (8.63%), 14

Summary

Introduction

Leishmaniasis remains a major public health problem in African nations, including Morocco, where little is known about the vertebrate reservoirs involved in the causal parasites’ transmission cycles. The present study investigates the role of rodent species as potential reservoirs of Leishmania spp. in central Morocco, where both L. tropica and L. infantum have been reported. In the Mediterranean basin, the primary reservoir hosts of Leishmania spp. are wild mammals, mainly rodents and canids [2,3,4,5]. Leishmaniasis remains one of the major public health problems in Morocco where three Leishmania species coexist [6]. Leishmania infantum causes mainly zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis; L. major causes zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis and L. tropica causes anthroponotic cutaneous leishmaniasis [6]. Natural Leishmania infections have been reported in many rodent species, such as Mus musculus, Rattus norvegicus, Rattus rattus and Apodemus sylvaticus [7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17]. In Morocco, the only proven rodent reservoir of Leishmania (L. major MON 25) is Meriones shawi (Rodentia: Echchakery et al Parasites & Vectors (2017) 10:454

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