Leishmania tropica in Rock Hyraxes (Procavia capensis) in a Focus of Human Cutaneous Leishmaniasis

Abstract

14, 15The purpose of the present study was to evaluate L. tropica exposure and infection rates among hyraxes living in an urban focus of disease in central Israel using quantitative real-time PCR and serology, and to compare the genetic relatedness of parasites isolated from hyraxes to those found in humans and sand flies. MATERIALS AND METHODS Study area.The study was carried out in the city of MA, which is located in the Judean Desert at an altitude of 350 meters above sea level approximately 5 km east of Jerusalem. The human cases in MA were clustered in two neighborhoods located adjacent to slopes and caves inhabited by rock hyraxes. 11Hyraxes. Rock hyraxes were trapped in March 2005 using cage-traps as a part of an epidemiological investigation of the human CL focus in MA conducted by the Israeli Nature Reserves and Parks Authority. Animals were anesthetized (10 mg/kg intramuscularly Ketamine-HCl, Ketaset, Fort Dodge Animal Health, Fort Dodge, Iowa) using a pole syringe, physically examined, weighed, and blood samples were collected. The study that concerned animals was conducted adhering to the Hebrew University's guidelines for animal husbandry and use of animals in research. Blood in ethylenediamidinetetraacetic acid (EDTA) tubes was used for DNA extraction. Blood samples for serology were separated using centrifugation and kept at −20°C for further analysis. Experimentally infected (EI) hyrax samples were used for standardization of the western blot assay, as well as PCR and real-time PCR tests. EI samples included hyrax no. 1, a hyrax inoculated by subcutaneous injection in the nose with 10 7 L. tropica promastigotes supplemented with promastigote secretory gel; and hyrax no. 2, infected by sand fly bite.12 Both hyraxes tested positive by PCR of nose skin biopsies for L. tropica infection. In addition, blood samples from 5 young hyraxes born in captivity in a non-endemic area of Israel were used as negative controls.Human patients. Parasites were cultured for routine diagnosis from residents of MA ( N = 8), Tiberias, a city located on the Sea of Galilee (Kinneret) in the South Kinneret (SK) region in northern Israel ( N = 3), and Karkom, a village in the North Kinneret (NK) region in northern Israel ( N = 1). These residents presented with cutaneous lesions and were referred to the Abstract. Cutaneous leishmaniasis, caused by Leishmania tropica , has recently emerged in urban and rural foci of central and northern Israel, and constitutes a major public health concern. Rock hyraxes ( Procavia capensis ), the suspected natural reservoir, were trapped in the cutaneous leishmaniasis urban focus of Maale Adumim in central Israel and evaluated for L. tropica infection by real-time kinetoplast DNA (kDNA) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and serology. Real-time PCR on blood and computerized western blot serology analysis was positive for L. tropica in 58% and 80%, respectively, of the hyraxes tested. Phylogenetic analysis of the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer 1 region indicated that similar genotypes wer...

Natural infection of bats with Leishmania in Ethiopia

“…Our results corroborate these findings as one specimen of C. cor captured in this area was found infected with L. tropica. Although L. tropica is regarded to be anthroponotic, infections in dogs (Baneth et al, 2014), golden jackal and red foxes (Talmi-Frank et al, 2010) and rodents (Svobodova et al, 2003;Talmi-Frank et al, 2010) have been well documented generally in zoonotic foci (Sang et al, 1994). The finding of this parasite both in bats and in our previous study of rodents points to the possibility of zoonotic transmission in the particular area.…”

Natural Infection of North African Gundi (Ctenodactylus gundi) by Leishmania tropica in the Focus of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis, Southeast Tunisia

“…7 On the other hand, the low parasitic load observed in all specimens (a mean of 0.69 parasites per 100 μL of blood) was already reported in hyraxes. 4 This may explain the difficulty of parasite isolation by culture (data not shown).…”

“…On the other hand and as reported for hyraxes, the presence of L. tropica DNA in gundi blood demonstrated in the current study could be caused by either the circulation of live amastigotes present in phagocytes or to degraded parasites. 4 The Leishmania DNA positivity observed in one spleen sample suggests that L. tropica infection may visceralize. However, the possibility of infection involving visceral organs and circulatory blood dissemination in gundis requires substantiation in further studies.…”

“…3 The rock hyrax is the proven reservoir and its reservoir role was confirmed even experimentally. [3][4][5][6] This animal species is found throughout sub-Saharan Africa and north-east Africa, being discontinuously distributed from Senegal through southern Algeria, Libya, and Egypt to central and southern Africa. It also extends to the Arabian Peninsula and to the Middle-East, but is not found in Tunisia.…”

Karyotype Determination of Rock Hyrax <i>Procavia capensis</i> in Saudi Arabia

“…In folk medicine, the animal waste from feces and urine, known as hyraceum, is used in the treatment of epilepsy and some women s diseases (Olds andShoshani 1982, Kraemer 2001). The rock hyrax also is a natural reservoir or favorite host for Leishmania which causes skin Coetaneous leishmaniasis and the infection incidence with this parasite might reach up to 80% (Talmi-Frank et al 2010). There are also those who believe that the animal can be used like an animal laboratory to conduct some scientific experiments, where it lives under captivity for a period of 12 years (Griner 1968, Fourie 1978).…”