Polyplax Spinulosa Research Articles

Localization of the major immunogen and other glycoproteins of the louse Polyplax spinulosa

A 31-kDa-immunogenic glycoprotein of Polyplax spinulosa was localized on louse sections using indirect immunofluorescence with specific antibodies of louse-infested rats and using fluorescein-labelled lectins. Antibodies of infested rats reacted specifically with midgut epithelium and semi-digested content of the gut. They did not bind to other louse tissues including salivary glands. The lectins concanavalin A and wheat germ agglutinin bound strongly to the immunogen, the gut and its semidigested contents. Electrophoretic and blotting analysis showed the presence of a 31-kDa glycoprotein component reacting with specific rat antibodies, concanavalin A and wheat germ agglutinin in louse faeces. The result indicates that the 31-kDa immunogen is secreted by the midgut epithelium into the gut lumen and faeces. We suggest that rats become immunized by scratching the lice faeces into the skin.

Some Ectoparasites of Commensal Rodents from Huambo, Angola

Eight species of ectoparasites were collected from 166 commensal rodents, including Rattus rattus (L.), Rattus norvegicus (Berkenhout), and Mus musculus (L.), from January to December 1986, in Huambo, Angola. The oriental rat flea, Xenopsylla cheopis (Rothschild), was the predominant species with respect to mean intensity and prevalence. Other fleas collected were Ctenophthalmus (Ethioctenophthalmus) machadoi Ribeiro, Dinopsyllus (Dinopsyllus) smiti Ribeiro, and Echidnophaga gallinacea (Westwood). The mite Laelaps (Echinolaelaps) muricola Trägärdh, the louse Polyplax spinulosa (Burmeister), one species of Ixodes Latreille, and one species of Ornithonyssus Sambon were also recorded. The following represent new host records: C. machadoi from R. rattus and R. norvegicus, D. smiti from M. musculus, and L. muricola from R. rattus and M. musculus. For the first time, the monthly flea indices throughout the year are presented for Angola.

Ivermectin: its effect on the immune system of rabbits and rats infested with ectoparasites

The influence of subcutaneously administered ivermectin on the specific immune response was studied in rabbits infested with mites ( Psoroptes cuniculi) and in rats infested with lice ( Polyplax spinulosa). A pronounced specific antibody activity and a change in immunoblotting pattern was observed in rabbits after the ivermectin treatment. However, in rats the antibody activity decreased and the profile of specific antibodies, tested by immunoblotting, remained the same as before the treatment. The specific immune response in rabbits artificially immunized with whole-body Psoroptes cuniculi extract was not affected by ivermectin. It was concluded that ivermectin has no direct effect on the immune response of rabbits and rats and that the enhanced immune response in the mite-infested rabbits was caused by the massive release of antigens associated with the synchronous death of the mites.

Isolation and characterization of an immunogen from the louse Polyplax spinulosa

The reaction of Polyplax spinulosa protein components with antigen-specific rat antisere and with five plant lectins is described. In immunoblotting, the antisera from rats infested with the louse P. spinulosa specifically recognized from 7 to 11 antigenic components of louse whole-body homogenates. Affinoblotting analysis with lectins showed that 10 of these components were glycoproteins with different types of glycan structure. Only one immunogenic antigen was isolated using immunoaffinity chromatography with the gammaglobulin fraction of an antigen-specific antiserum as immunospecific ligand. Further electrophoretic and immunochemical analyses revealed that it was a glycoprotein with relative molecular weight (RMW) 31 kDa and with high mannose type of oligosaccharide.

Ectoparasites of commensal rodents in Sulawesi Utara, Indonesia, with notes on species of medical importance

Ectoparasite records are presented for four species of commensal murid rodents (Rattus rattus palelae Miller & Hollister, R. argentiventer (Robinson & Kloss), R. exulans (Peale) and Mus musculus castaneus Waterhouse) in Sulawesi Utara, with particular reference to the potential for these arthropods to bite and transmit pathogens to humans. The flea, Xenopsylla cheopis (Rothschild), was most common on R.r. palelae and is capable of transmitting plague and other pathogens to humans although no current foci for these diseases are known in Sulawesi. Hoplopleura pacifica Ewing and Polyplax spinulosa (Burmeister) sucking lice parasitized all three Rattus species although H. pacifica was mainly associated with R. exulans and P. spinulosa with R.r. palelae. These lice do not bite humans but may be intramurid vectors of murine typhus and other zoonoses. The mites Laelaps echidnina Berlese and L. nuttalli Hirst were both collected; the latter was recorded from all four murid species, mainly R. exulans. The mite Ornithonyssus bacoti Hirst was rare. Only one chigger mite, Walchiella oudemansi (Walch), was retrieved from murids (from R. exulans) and a single Leptotrombidium deliense (Walch) chigger was taken from a human subject. Although L. deliense is a significant vector of scrub typhus, a disease known from Sulawesi, the L. deliense-R. argentiventer relationship frequently noted in the ecology of this rickettsial disease, was not evident in this survey. Other ectoparasites collected from murids were the ticks, Ixodes granulatus Supino (first record for Sulawesi), Haemaphysalis sp. and Dermacentor sp., the mites Myocoptes musculinus (Koch) and Listrophoroides cucullatus (Trouessart), acarids and a uropodid.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The Spiny Rat Louse, Polyplax spinulosa, as a Parasite of the Rice Rat, Oryzomys palustris, in North America

The spiny rat louse, Polyplax spinulosa, was collected, as adults and embryonated ova from the rice rat, Oryzomys palustris, a cricetid rodent, in Davidson Co., Tennessee. This sucking louse is typically parasitic on domestic rats, which are murid rodents. Because most sucking lice are normally host specific, such cross-familial host infestation is noteworthy.

Ectoparasites of rodents of the urban region of Belo Horizonte, MG. I. Interaction between ectoparasites and hosts

A rodent ectoparasite survey was made in the city of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, from June 1980 to September 1982. The species of ectoparasites captured from 950 Rattus norvegicus norvegicus were: Xenopsylla cheopis, Ctenocephalides felis felis, Polyplax spinulosa, Laelaps nuttalli, Echinolaelaps echidninus and Atricholaelaps glasgowi, the last species only represented by three specimens interchanged with wild rodent. P. spinulosa and L. nuttalli, although cosmopolitan, are recorded for the first time in State of Minas Gerais. The sex ratio of the ectoparasites, as well as the prevalence of fleas, mites and lice on the separate sexes of rodents are presented. 66.9% of the rats were infested by mites, almost twice more than infestations by fleas and louse jointly (39%). L. nuttalli was found in great numbers and presented the highest index of infestation: 55.1%. Single infestations are as common as associated ones. P. spinulosa, contrary to L. nuttalli, rarely occurs in single infestation. Data on the distribution of the ectoparasites on the rodents are also reported. The infestation observed in Belo Horizonte is confronted with those obtained by other authors in different places.

Ectoparasites of some rodents from the edge of the Western Desert near Alexandria, Egypt

Four species and subspecies of rats and mice (Rattus norvegiens, Arvicanthis niloticus itiloticus, Mus nntscitlus and R. r. frugivorus) were found associated with a new irrigated area, El-Galaa, about 55 km from the edge of the desert near Alexandria, Egypt. Ectoparasites recovered from these hosts were three species of fleas (the Oriental rat flea Xenopsylla cheopis Rothschild, the human flea Pulex irritami Linnaeus, and the cat flea Ctenoeephalides felis felis Bouche), three species of sucking lice (Polyplax spinulosa Burmeister, Polyplax ahyssiniea Ferris, and Hoplopleura capitosa Johnson), and five species of mites (Ornithonyssus bacati Hirst, Laelaps keeaani, Dermanyssus spp„ Haentolaelaps spp. and Echinolae-laps echidninus Berlese). Records showed that the lice were the most abundant ectoparasites (39.03%) recovered from their rodent hosts, followed by the mite species (36.82%) and finally the fleas (24.1%,). Lice in general and fleas (especially X. cheopis) showed a certain degree of host specificity as compared to other ectoparasites. A close correlation has been shown to exist between the incidence of flea and lice species (but not the mite species) and the incidence of some rodents.

Relative abundance of rats and their ectoparasites in two grain warehouses in Calcutta, India, during 1964-1965.

Rodents were trapped in 2 grain warehouses in Calcutta, India, from October 1964 through October 1965 and their ectoparasites were collected. Trap successes of 85% and 57% in the 2 localities for more than 1100 trap nights in each area were indicative of very dense rodent populations. Bandicota bengalensis (G. & H.) constituted more than 94% of the rodents trapped in each area. Lesser numbers of Bandicota indica (Bechstein), Rattus norvegicus (Berkenhout), Rattus rattus (L.), and Mus musculus L. were collected. Four species of ectoparasites were found commonly on B. bengalensis, i.e., Laelaps nuttalli Hirst, Polyplax spinulosa (Burmeister), Xenopsylla astia Roths., and Xenopsylla cheopis (Roths.). Prevalence and relative abundance data are presented. L. nuttalli populations fluctuated irregularly at each site. P. spinulosa was most prevalent during the relatively cool winter months as were both species of fleas. X. astia was more abundant and more prevalent on B. bengalensis than was X. cheopis. The possible significance of temporal changes in the flea populations and the apparent preference of X. astia for B. bengalensis are discussed with reference to the epidemiology of plague in Calcutta.

Rat ectoparasite surveys in relation to murine typhus fever in Puerto Rico.

SummaryA rat ectoparasite survey of the City of San Juan, Puerto Rico, was made from 7 December 1956 to 31 December 1960. Data obtained from 964 rats collected from 15 April 1957 to 4 May 1958, 747 rats collected in 1958–59, and 573 in 1959–60 were compared with similar data obtained in 1946–47 and 1954–55. In 1946–47 54% of the rats were infested with Xenopsylla cheopis; in 1954–55, 16%; in 1957–58, 6.0%; in 1958–59, 3.3%; and 1959–60, 2.6%. Other common rat ectoparasites, Laelaps nuttalli, Ornithonyssus bacoti, Listrophoroides expansus, and Polyplax spinulosa increased in abundance. In particular, L. nuttalli showed marked increases. Ornithodoros puertoricensis which affected 26.8% of the rats in 1946–47 infested only 5.4% in 1959–60. Designed rat flea insecticidal control measures have never been applied in Puerto Rico. The rat population has always been high. Fleas were uncommon in poorly sanitated areas and more often found in well sanitated places subject to other pest control activities. Weather Bureau records indicated that precipitation, humidity or temperature could not account for the rat flea reduction. Of 998 rat sera subjected to the complement fixation test with U. S. Army group specific typhus antigen at 1:10 dilution, 804 were negative and 194 were anticomplementary. In 1954 and succeeding years including 1960 there were no cases of murine typhus fever reported from the City of San Juan and in 1958, 1959, and 1960 none in Puerto Rico as a whole. Since a great reduction in rat flea population occurred and no infection in rats was found, there is no reason to doubt the reported morbidity or to postulate that the use of antibiotics had anything to do with the rate. It was concluded that investigations on the ecological circumstances of the association of arthropods, particularly mites, with rat fleas are necessary, if the question of why the rat flea population was decimated is to be answered.

The Mechanism of Transmission of Haemobartonella muris (Mayer) of Rats by the Spined Rat Louse, Polyplax spinulosa (Burmeister)

Normal adult albino rats infected with Haemobartonella muris (Mayer) show no evidence of disease. However, splenectomy results in a severe, often fatal, anemia of the macrocytic hypochromic type. Ford and Eliot (1928) first suggested transmission of the disease by an insect vector when they noted that all of their rats were infested with the spined rat louse, Polyplax spinulosa (Burmeister). A few months later, Cannon and McClelland (1928, 1929) showed that lice could transmit H. muris directly from rats with latent infections to uninfected rats. Mayer (1928b) achieved similar results independently and there was further confirmation by Eliot and Ford (1929) and Vassiliadis (1930). The first attempt to determine the mechanism of transmission by lice was made by Eliot and Ford (1929). They fed 10 lice to a splenectomized Wistar rat which remained uninfected after 3 months of observation. It was not reported whether these lice came from an infected source. They also tested transmission by the bites of the vectors. They placed lice from infected animals on splenectomized bartonellafree rats which subsequently developed typical anemias. Similarly, Timmerman (1930) transferred lice from an infected rat to a splenectomized white rat but allowed them to feed through muslin. This rat later became positive. Modes of transmission other than by the bite were not excluded in these experiments. Consequently, a study was initiated to determine more precisely the mechanism of transmission.

Relative and Seasonal Abundance of the Common Rat Ectoparasites of San Juan, Puerto Rico

Murine typhus fever in Puerto Rico is seasonal favoring the months of May, June, July and August when the number of cases reported almost always exceeds that of the remainder of the year. The disease is also urban and the majority of the cases are said to occur in the city of San Juan. An ectoparasite survey of the rats of San Juan, therefore, should show a prevalence of the vectors which is in accord with the seasonal variation of the disease and such arthropods ought to be among the most common ectoparasites of the city's rats. Of the many species of arthropods parasitic upon or associated with the rats of San Juan, six are so abundant as to merit special consideration. They are Xenopsylla cheopis (Rothschild), Echidnophaga gallinacea (Westwood), Polyplax spinulosa (Burmeister), Bdellonyssus bacoti (Hirst), Laelaps nuttalli Hirst and Ornithodoros puertoricensis Fox, of which the first four have for some years been known to be experimental transmitters of rodent typhus. What has been found out about the relative and seasonal abundance of these species in San Juan is given in the following pages. The municipality of San Juan is located on a peninsula with San Juan Bay to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the north. On the point of the peninsula is the old city or San Juan proper which except for a coastal suburb known as La Perla and an ancient military post, El Morro, contains commercial buildings and apartmenthouse type residences. The streets are paved with no empty lots, lawns or vegetation to speak of, and there is considerable activity out-of-doors day and night among the people. A short distance inland lies the district called Puerta de Tierra made up of various types of buildings, including residences, commercial establishments, warehouses and wharfs, with empty lots and some unpaved streets. On the base of the peninsula is Santurce, separated from Puerta de Tierra by a well-bridged estuary, it is mainly residential, the houses being for the most part small with front and back yards; empty lots, unpaved streets and vegetation are common, and in the district are varying socio-economic conditions which influence greatly the types of construction present. As regards the places from which the rats came there was little ecological difference between the Santurce and Puetra de Tierra localities. The traps used were of the wooden box type baited with fresh bread. They were set in the backyards or under the houses (sometimes in them) of the poorer sections. The houses were usually small, frame structures, far from rat-proof and rats were reported to run in and out of them from the unpaved ground around them. The residents being not well-off economically were not very successful as a rule in maintaining the environs of their homes on a plane in accord with modern sanitary standards. In San Juan proper very different ecological factors obtained. Here unbaited steel snap traps

An Ectoparasitic Survey of Mammals from Lavaca County, Texas

Maxcy (1926) first noted that rats and mice might be the reservoir of endemic typhus, and that fleas, mites, or ticks, were probable transmitters of the disease in the United States. Since that time, many investigators have recovered the rickettsiae of typhus fever from rats and their fleas. Dyar, Rumreich, and Badger (1931) first demonstrated the natural infection of the rat fleas, Xenopsylla cheopis (Rothschild) and Leptopsylla segnis (Schonheer) with endemic typhus. The fleas were taken from rats trapped in Baltimore, Md., and Savannah, Ga. Brigham (1941) reported the recovery of endemic typhus fever rickettsiae from naturally infected chicken fleas. Alicata (1942) obtained experimental transmission of the typhus rickettsiae from rat to rat with the sticktight flea, Echidnophaga gallinacean (Westwood). Dove and Shelmire (1932) reported the laboratory transmission of endemic typhus from guinea pig to guinea pig through the bites of tropical rat mites, Liponyssus bacoti (Hirst). Mooser, Zinsner, and Castaneda, working in Mexico City in 1930, obtained transmission from rat to rat by the rat louse, Polyplax spinulosa (Burmeister).

Possibilidades de transmissão e vias de inoculação da lepra murina em ratos e outros animais

1) O A. revê as vias de infecção naturais e os processos de inoculações empregados em ratos, no estudo da lepra murina. 2) Na natureza, o contacto prolongado de animal sadio com doente e a infecção por via gástrica devem ser os modos comuns de contaminação. 3) Foram encontrados dentro do Polyplax spinulosa (Burmeister) capturados em ratos leprosos, bacilos ácido álcool resistentes. Tentativas de cultura com êste material, foram infrutíferas. 4) O A. infectou ratos colocando no estômago, por meio de sondas de vidro, material leproso. Em cinco animais, todos se infectaram. 5) Por via subcutânea e por via intraperitoneal, a infecção se processa em quase 100% dos casos. 6) Foi possível infectar gambás (Didelphis aurita) com lepra murina. Êsses animais provavelmente são mais suscetíveis à lepra dos ratos que à humana. 7) Conseguiu-se infectar pinto por inoculação de emulsão de lepra murina no músculo do peito, por via intraperitoneal e por via gástrica. 8) Pombos também se infectaram após inoculação no músculo do peito e por via venosa.

A Census of the Ectoparasites of Some Ceylon Rats

OWING to their intimate connexion with plague a vast number of analyses of the fleas found on rats in various parts of the world have been published. As far as I am aware, however, no one has ever published a complete census of the ectoparasites occurring on a rat population. In this short paper I am presenting a complete analysis of the ectoparasites found on fifteen specimens of the common Ceylon rat (Rattus r. kandiyanus (Kelaart)). This rat is found everywhere in the vicinity of human habitations throughout Ceylon and it has been the subject of many investigations in connexion with the parasitology of plague (see papers by Hirst, 1926, 1927, 1933). The whole of the material on which this paper is based was collected by Capt. W. W. A. Phillips, to whom I should like to express my thanks. Most, if not all, of the rats were trapped near his bungalow, on the outskirts of the jungle. The rats were in every case examined as soon as possible after being trapped in order to obtain the maximum number of parasites. It is possible that some of the very small mites (e.g. Myobia spp.) were overlooked, but otherwise it seems that the collecting was complete. The determination of the rats was done by the collector, who is a well-known authority on the mammals of Ceylon. The ectoparasitic Arthropoda found on rats are as follows: Siphunculata (sucking-lice), Siphonaptera (fleas), Acarina (mites and ticks). Representatives of all these groups were collected from the Ceylon rats. Lice were only taken on two of the rats and this scarcity of lice is in accordance with my experience. It is interesting to note that two species are represented. Polyplax spinulosa (Burmeister) is the louse normally found on domestic rats wherever they occur. Hoplopleura oenomydis Ferris, of which only a single specimen was taken, has a very interesting distribution. It was originally described from various species of Murids occurring in British East Africa and the Philippine Islands. It has since been recorded off Rattus spp. from the Marquesan Islands, Federated Malay States, Queensland and Sumatra (Ferris, 1932). With regard to the fleas, as many as twelve different species have been collected from Ceylon rats. The fact that only four of these occurred on the rats dealt with in this paper is in all probability something to do with the high altitude at which the rats were collected. Flea distribution seems to be largely controlled by environment rather than by their hosts' distribution. This is especially the case with the species Leptopsylla segnis Sch6nhr. which in Europe is extremely common on the house mouse and on rats, but in India and Ceylon

FURTHER OBSERVATIONS ON THE VIRUS OF RAT ANEMIA WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO ITS TRANSMISSION BY THE RAT LOUSE, POLYPLAX SPINULOSA*

Journal Article FURTHER OBSERVATIONS ON THE VIRUS OF RAT ANEMIA WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO ITS TRANSMISSION BY THE RAT LOUSE, POLYPLAX SPINULOSA Get access CALISTA P. ELIOT, CALISTA P. ELIOT Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar WILLIAM W. FORD WILLIAM W. FORD Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar American Journal of Epidemiology, Volume 10, Issue 3, 1 November 1929, Pages 635–642, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a112774 Published: 01 November 1929 Article history Received: 31 July 1929 Published: 01 November 1929