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

Abstract

Fleas are important in public health due to their role as parasites and vectors of pathogens, including Rickettsia. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diversity, abundance and prevalence of fleas and the presence of Rickettsia in the trifinio of north-east Argentina. Fleas from household and synanthropic animals were obtained from urban and periurban areas. They were taxonomically identified and samples of 227 fleas in 86 pools were analysed by polymerase chain reaction targeting the gltA and ompB genes of Rickettsia spp. The study revealed that Ctenocephalides felis felis was dominant on dogs, cats and opossums, with higher prevalence in the periurban area. The Shannon-Wiener and Morisita-Horn indices expressed differences in the diversity and similarity values of the absolute abundances of the species between the areas compared. DNA amplifications revealed 30.8% C. f . felis pools positive for Rickettsia spp. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the haplotype obtained was identical to Rickettsia asembonensis from Peru and Brazil. This is the first detection in Argentina of R. asembonensis that infects C. f . felis, and we emphasize the importance of conducting research from a 'One Health' perspective on the role of opossums and rodents in the integration of the transmission cycles of rickettsial bacteria.

Rickettsia asembonensis Isolated from Four Human Cases with Acute Undifferentiated Febrile Illness in Peru

“…Rickettsia asembonensis is an emerging flea-borne agent, closely related to Rickettsia felis and other R. felis -like organisms, that belongs serologically to the spotted fever group of rickettsiae [SFGR] but genetically to the transitional group of rickettsiae [ 2 ]. R. asembonensis was first identified in Kenya in 2013, and since then, multiple studies have reported its global detection in a variety of arthropods collected from domestic, peri-domestic, and wildlife animals [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ]. Although its pathogenicity and role as a human pathogen has not yet been elucidated, its detection in both human [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ] and animal [ 14 , 15 , 16 ] specimens suggests a potential public health threat.…”

Eco-epidemiología de los ectoparásitos de roedores silvestres (Cricetidae) y sinantrópicos (Muridae) en la provincia de Buenos Aires

“…Algunos de los ectoparásitos aquí mencionados tienen importancia desde el punto de vista de la salud pública (p. ej. O. bacoti o A. triste) por lo cual resulta importante registrar su hallazgo en los distintos hospedadores, sobre todo considerando que estos pueden habitar en zonas urbanizadas y sobre todo teniendo en cuenta el patrón generalista de distribución que presentan (Lareschi, 2004;Nava et al, 2008Nava et al, , 2017Lareschi et al, 2007;Urdapilleta et al, 2020Urdapilleta et al, , 2021.…”

“…Comentarios: en el presente estudio solo se colectó una hembra. Se destaca la importancia sanitaria de esta especie en el ciclo del helminto zoonótico Dipylidium caninum y en el ciclo enzoótico de bacterias de los géneros Rickettsia y Bartonella (Horta et al, 2006;Brown & Macaluso 2016;Urdapilleta et al, 2020Urdapilleta et al, , 2021.…”

“…Asimismo, los estudios en ácaros como vectores son nulos para la Argentina y en pulgas se limitan al noreste del país y a la Patagonia (p. ej. Romer et al, 2014;Cicuttin et al, 2017;Nava et al, 2017;Villalba Apestegui et al, 2018;Urdapilleta et al, 2021Urdapilleta et al, , 2022.…”