Multiple Infections of Rodents with Zoonotic Pathogens in Austria

Abstract

Rodents are important reservoirs for a large number of zoonotic pathogens. We examined the occurrence of 11 viral, bacterial, and parasitic agents in rodent populations in Austria, including three different hantaviruses, lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus, orthopox virus, Leptospira spp., Borrelia spp., Rickettsia spp., Bartonella spp., Coxiella burnetii, and Toxoplasma gondii. In 2008, 110 rodents of four species (40 Clethrionomys glareolus, 29 Apodemus flavicollis, 26 Apodemus sylvaticus, and 15 Microtus arvalis) were trapped at two rural sites in Lower Austria. Chest cavity fluid and samples of lung, spleen, kidney, liver, brain, and ear pinna skin were collected. We screened selected tissue samples for hantaviruses, lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus, orthopox viruses, Leptospira, Borrelia, Rickettsia, Bartonella spp., C. burnetii, and T. gondii by RT-PCR/PCR and detected nucleic acids of Tula hantavirus, Leptospira spp., Borrelia afzelii, Rickettsia spp., and different Bartonella species. Serological investigations were performed for hantaviruses, lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus, orthopox viruses, and Rickettsia spp. Here, Dobrava-Belgrade hantavirus-, Tula hantavirus-, lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus-, orthopox virus-, and rickettsia-specific antibodies were demonstrated. Puumala hantavirus, C. burnetii, and T. gondii were neither detected by RT-PCR/PCR nor by serological methods. In addition, multiple infections with up to three pathogens were shown in nine animals of three rodent species from different trapping sites. In conclusion, these results show that rodents in Austria may host multiple zoonotic pathogens. Our observation raises important questions regarding the interactions of different pathogens in the host, the countermeasures of the host's immune system, the impact of the host-pathogen interaction on the fitness of the host, and the spread of infectious agents among wild rodents and from those to other animals or humans.

Leptospira spp. in Rodents and Shrews in Germany

“…In a recent study in rodents from Lower Austria, L. kirschneri was detected in three Apodemus mice, but genomospecies L. interrogans , L. borgpetersenii , L. weilii , L. noguchii , L. santarosai or L. meyeri were found in three voles [37]. …”

The ecology of Lyme borreliosis risk : interactions between lxodes ricinus, rodents and Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato

“…In western Europe, rodents and larvae collected from rodents are mainly infected with B. afzelii (Humair et al 1999, Hanincová et al 2003a, Kybicova et al 2008, Schmidt et al 2014b). …”

“…The first hypothesis is that B. afzelii can be transmitted transovarially from female tick to larva as was shown for B. miyamotoi although it remains a rare event, as proposed by Richter et al (2012). The reason why this may not have been found previously could be that almost all female ticks feed on Borrelia-incompetent hosts that kill the spirochaetes in the female tick during feeding (Pacilly et al 2014, Hofmeester et al 2016 (Humair et al 1999, Hanincová et al 2003a, Kybicova et al 2008, Schmidt et al 2014b). Borrelia spielmanii, but their infection rates in rodents and ticks are lower (Kurtenbach et al 1994, Humair et al 1995, Gassner et al 2011, Richter et al 2011, Coipan et al 2016).…”

“…The infectiousness of bank voles was 28.2% (29 out of 103 larvae; Figure 3, Chapter 5). In a natural situation, the infection rate of bank voles is, on average, 23% (434/1912) (Humair et al 1995, Kurtenbach et al 1998b, Gray et al 1999, Humair et al 1999, Hanincová et al 2003a, Richter and Matuschka 2006, Hellgren et al 2011, Perez et al 2012, Raberg 2012, Gassner et al 2013, Marsot et al 2013, Radzijevskaja et al 2013, Schmidt et al 2014a. In a situation where a B. afzelii infection would not increase larval tick burden, the ratio of larval tick burdens on uninfected and infected bank voles would be 0.5:0.5.…”

Possible role of different animal species in maintenance and spread of murine gammaherpesvirus 68 in the nature

“…Wild murid rodents represent the reservoir for MHV-68, hantaviruses, tick born encephalitis virus, and lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) (Grešíková et al, 1986;Bardoš, 1965;Lee et al, 1981). Rodents were confirmed as important reservoir of 11 viral, bacterial, and parasitic agents including three different hantaviruses, LCMV, orthopoxvirus, Leptospira spp., Borrelia spp., Rickettsia spp., Bartonella spp., Coxiella burnetii, and Toxoplasma gondii in Austria (Schmidt et al, 2014). The pathogenesis of MHV-68 infection in wild murid rodents has been well documented by detection of the virus in various organs and by assay of specific serum antibodies.…”