Ants’ Role (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) as Potential Vectors of Mycobacteria Dispersion

Abstract

Ants are found worldwide playing an important environmental role. Some species are considered as agricultural pests and potential risk to human life and public health acting as pathogens carriers. Ants as Paratrechina longicornis and Camponotus spp. have been found inside hospitals. The aim of this study was the research of mycobacteria in 138 samples of ants (137 Paratrechina longicornis and only one Camponotus spp.) which got into the laboratories of tuberculosis diagnosis. These ants were suspended in sterile saline solution and inoculated into Petragnani and Stonebrink media, incubated at 37° C until 90 days and the isolates were identified as environmental mycobacteria (1 Mycobacterium fortuitum peregrinum, 1 Mycobacterium smegmatis) and 1 Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. These results showed that ants should also act as mechanical vectors of mycobacteria dissemination in risk environments, reinforcing their significance in public health.

Hormigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) del estado de Sinaloa, México

“…Dentro de este grupo, algunas especies son consideradas como invasoras o plagas, i.e. T. melanocephalum considerada como una plaga doméstica y agrícola capaz de transportar patógenos (Oliveira et al, 2017); Monomorium pharaonis es vector de algunos patógenos humanos (De Castro et al, 2015); Paratrechina longicornis es capaz de desplazar a otras hormigas (Roxo et al, 2010), y A. gracilipes es reportada en la invasión de ecosistemas y causante de daños al medio ambiente (Plentovich et al, 2018). En el estado, no se tienen informes sobre los daños que estas hormigas puedan estar causando, por lo que se detecta la necesidad de estudiar el posible impacto de las hormigas introducidas en Sinaloa.…”