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

Abstract

The Bartonella species are zoonotic agents that infect mammals and are transmitted by arthropod vectors. Approximately 18 distinct genotypes cause diseases in humans, and may be spread by both domestic and wild animals. In Brazil, Bartonella genotypes have been identified in several species of wild mammals, and in the present study, we analyzed samples from non-human primates (marmosets), marsupials, rodents, and bats, and compared them with the genotypes described in mammals from Brazil, to examine the distribution of Bartonella genotypes in two impacted areas of Rio de Janeiro state, in southeastern Brazil. We used polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods to detect the Bartonella DNA using partial sequences of the gltA, ftsZ , and groEL genes. We generated Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood trees to characterize the positive PCR samples and infer the phylogenetic relationships of the genotypes. A total of 276 animals were captured, including 110 bats, 91 rodents, 38 marsupials, and 37 marmosets. The DNA of Bartonella was amplified from tissue samples collected from 12 (4.34%) of the animals, including eight rodents – Akodon cursor (5/44) and Nectomys squamipes (3/27) – and four bats, Artibeus lituratus (3/58) and Carollia perspicillata (1/15). We identified Bartonella genotypes closely related to those described in previous studies, as well as new genotypes in both the rodent and the bat samples. Considering the high diversity of the Bartonella genotypes and hosts identified in the present study, further research is needed to better understand the relationships between the different Bartonella genotypes and their vectors and host species. The presence of Bartonella in the wild rodents and bats from the study area indicates that the local human populations may be at risk of infection by Bartonella due to the spillover of these strains from the wild environment to domestic and peri-domestic environments.

Zoonotic spillover: Understanding basic aspects for better prevention

“…Several other pathogens circulate in mosquito vectors (Barrio-Nuevo et al, 2020;Ximenes et al, 2020), bats (de Araujo et al, 2012Góes et al, 2016;Gonçalves-Oliveira et al, 2020), wild rodents (Rozental et al, 2017;Vieira et al, 2019), non-human primates (Costa et al, 2014;Catenacci et al, 2018) and dogs (Curi et al, 2014;Sevá et al, 2018) found in portions of the Atlantic Forest and adjacent areas in different regions of Brazil. The interaction of animals with human populations that live in close contact with the Atlantic Forest can cause isolated cases of zoonotic infections in humans, maintain the endemicity cycles of diseases such as Leptospirosis and Leishmaniasis (Curi et al, 2014;Vieira et al, 2019), as well as create the ideal conditions for the emergence of new human infectious diseases in Brazil.…”

Bats and their ectoparasites (Nycteribiidae and Spinturnicidae) carry diverse novel Bartonella genotypes, China

“…DNA was extracted from bat flies, bat mites, and bat liver tissue samples using QIAamp DNA Mini Kit (Qiagen, Valencia, CA, Spain). Bartonella were screened by PCR amplification and sequencing of gltA , rpoB , and ftsZ genes as described previously (Bai et al., 2015; Gonçalves‐Oliveira et al., 2020) (Table S2).…”

“…Bartonella were screened by PCR amplification and sequencing of gltA, rpoB, and ftsZ genes as described previously (Bai et al, 2015;Gonçalves-Oliveira et al, 2020) (Table S2).…”

Monitoramento E Ações Para O Controle De Agentes Zoonóticos Em Comunidades Adjacentes a Uma Floresta Urbana No Município Do Rio De Janeiro

“…Desde o inicio das atividades na região, bactérias, vírus e protozoários, incluindo tripanosomatideos, de potencial patogênico para humanos foram identificados no território do CFMA e adjacências, por diversos grupos, em pesquisas realizadas em parceira com a Área de Saúde Ambiental do PDCFMA (e.g., FERREIRA et al, 2018;HORTA et al, 2018;RANGEL et al, 2019;GONÇALVES-DE-OLIVEIRA et al, 2020;ORNELLAS et al, 2020). Portanto, esses resultados e as características ambientais e sociais do território reforçam a importância da Vigilância em Saúde para a promoção da saúde.…”