Abstract
Small mammals play an essential role in the transmission and maintenance cycles of Borrelia spirochetes. In Chile, recent studies have characterized novel Borrelia genotypes in ticks collected from small mammals, a fact that suggests these vertebrates are hosts for spirochetes from this genus. Considering this evidence, the goal of this study was to determine the presence of Borrelia DNA in small mammals inhabiting northern Chile. In winter of 2018, 58 small mammals were captured in five localities. Blood samples were collected from rodents and DNA was extracted to determine the presence of Borrelia DNA by PCR targeting the flaB gene and rrs-rrlA intergenic spacer (IGS). From three individuals (5%), belonging to two rodent species of Cricetidae family (Phyllotis xanthopygus and Oligoryzomys longicaudatus), we retrieved three flaB and two IGS Borrelia genotypes. Phylogenetic analyses performed with both Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian inferences showed that our sequences grouped with homologous genotypes from the relapsing fever and Lyme borreliosis groups. Our findings suggest that P. xanthopygus and O. longicaudatus rodents may play a role as reservoirs for borrelial spirochetes in Chile.
Highlights
In Chile, studies on bacterial infections in small mammals have been performed mostly in the central and southern regions of the country (Müller et al, 2018; Llanos-Soto & González-Acuña, 2019)
Three out of 53 rodents (5%) were positive for Borrelia flaB screening, and two of these samples were positive for intergenic spacer (IGS) (4%) (Table 2)
The identification of wild vertebrate reservoirs implicated in the maintenance of pathogenic agents should be considered a permanent task in scientific research (Karesh et al, 2012)
Summary
In Chile, studies on bacterial infections in small mammals have been performed mostly in the central and southern regions of the country (Müller et al, 2018; Llanos-Soto & González-Acuña, 2019). Rodentia is among the most diverse mammal order in Chile, with 69 species distributed along the country (MMA, 2018). This group of vertebrates plays an important role in the maintenance and propagation of tick-borne pathogens (bacterial, protozoan and viral) in urban and natural environments (Llanos-Soto & González-Acuña, 2019). Rodents act as hosts for tick populations and serve as reservoirs for zoonotic pathogenic agents, such as Borrelia species (Cutler, 2015; Cutler et al, 2017)
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Schedule a callMore From: Revista brasileira de parasitologia veterinaria = Brazilian journal of veterinary parasitology : Orgao Oficial do Colegio Brasileiro de Parasitologia Veterinaria
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