Detection of Rickettsia spp. and Bartonella spp. in Ctenocephalides felis fleas from free‐ranging crab‐eating foxes (Cerdocyon thous)

Abstract

Fleas are insects with a worldwide distribution that have been implicated in the transmission of several pathogens. The present study aimed to investigate the presence of Rickettsia spp. (Rickettsiales: Rickettsiaceae) and Bartonella spp. (Rhizobiales: Bartonellaceae) in fleas from free‐ranging crab‐eating foxes Cerdocyon thous (Linnaeus, 1766) (Carnivora: Canidae) from Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil. Fleas were collected manually from animals and used for the molecular detection of Rickettsia spp. and Bartonella spp. Twenty‐nine C. thous were sampled in six municipalities. Four foxes were parasitized by 10 fleas, all of which were identified as Ctenocephalides felis (Bouché, 1935) (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae). DNA from Rickettsia felis Bouyer et al., 2001 and Rickettsia asembonensis Maina et al., 2016 were found in three and eight fleas, respectively. In four fleas, DNA of Bartonella sp. was identified. Phylogenetic analysis grouped Bartonella sp. together with other genotypes previously reported in C. felis worldwide. The scenario described in the present study highlights a Neotropical canid parasitized by the invasive cosmopolitan cat flea, which in turn, is carrying potentially invasive vector‐borne microorganisms. These findings suggest that C. felis is adapted to wild hosts in wilderness areas in southern Brazil, hypothetically exposing the Neotropical fauna to unknown ecological and health disturbances.

Investigation of Bartonella spp. in brazilian mammals with emphasis on rodents and bats from the Atlantic Forest

“…3 ; Clade G and K). Bartonella rochalimae is the second most prevalent clade in wild carnivores and can also be found in domestic cats and dogs and their vectors ( Bai et al, 2016 ; Fleischman et al, 2015 ; Frye et al, 2015 ; Gerrikagoitia et al, 2012 ; Henn et al, 2009 ; Kosoy and Goodrich, 2019 ; Saisongkorh et al, 2009 ; Schott et al, 2019 ). Akodon is known to be preyed on by carnivores in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest ( Facure et al, 2003 ; Gatti et al, 2006b , 2006a ; Santos et al, 2003 ).…”

Ecology of fleas and their hosts in the trifinio of north‐east Argentina: first detection of Rickettsia asembonensis in Ctenocephalides felis felis in Argentina

“…In general, pulicids, such as species of Ctenocephalides genus (Pulicidae), infest a wide variety of host species, including humans, domestic animals, as well as synanthropic opossums and rodents (Lareschi et al, 2018;Sanchez et al, 2018). Moreover, some species are involved in the maintenance of pathogens in wild reservoirs and as vectors Correspondence: Mara Urdapilleta, Calle Ámbar y Almafuerte, CP 3370, Puerto Iguazú, Misiones, Argentina; E-mail: bupamara@gmail.com [Correction added on 08 September 2021, after first online publication: corrected order of the initials for the authors as E. F. Burgos, D. E. Balcazar, W. A. O. Ferrari] of pathogens that cause diseases in humans and in domestic animals (Schott et al, 2019;Nguyen et al, 2020).…”

Multi‐locus sequencing reveals a novel Bartonella in mammals from the Superorder Xenarthra

“…has been detected in several species of wild animals. In Brazil, they have been described in rodents (Sousa et al, 2018;Gonçalves et al, 2016), wild carnivores (Filoni et al, 2012;Fleischman et al, 2014;Fontalvo et al, 2017;Guimarães et al, 2009), bats (André et al, 2019;Ferreira et al, 2018;Ikeda et al, 2017) and associated ectoparasites, such as fleas (Sousa et al, 2018;Schott et al, 2019) and bat flies (Do Amaral et al, 2018). To the best of authors' knowledge, there are no reports on the occurrence of these agents in mammals from the superorder Xenarthra so far.…”