Laboratory infection of the wild rodent, Sciurus alphonsei with Pasteurella pestis

Abstract

The author stuãieã the susceptibility of the wilã rodent, Sciurus alphonsei (Sciuridae) from Brazil to Pasteurella pestis.Two strains of P. pestis isolated from wilã rodents were useã: one, P. EXU 19, was isolated from O. subflavus in the county of E m , Pernambuco (Brazil), and other, RANGEL, isolated from S. hispidus of Camp. Rangel (Ve nezuela) . Six animais were tested by inoculation through different routes (percutaneous, subcutaneous anã peritoneal).Ali th e animais dieã as a result of the infection.Several species of the rodent family Sciuridae have been found naturally infected with P. pestis T h at fam ily ranks as the second in im portance in relation to epidemiology of plague (O .M .S. 1959) .In Mongolia, M anchuria, Transbaikalia, and Russia T urkestan th e Sciuridae genus M armota is considered the m ain plague resevoir while the genus Citellus plays the same role in the south-east Rus sia northen foci. Citellus and Cynomys are im portant reservoir hosts in the USA western states (Arizona and New Mexico) as well as in th e Coastal regions and northern p a rt of interm ountain plateau. In South America, Sciurus stramineus nebouxi is th e m ain reservoir in th e Pe ru/Equador border region (6) .Although species of Brazilian squirrels (family Sciuridae) had never been incriminated as reservoir hosts of plague in Brazil, th e genus Sciurus h as large geographical distribution in forest regions of this country (4). Thomas, 1906 was recorded from plague endemic areas by the form er "N ational Service of Plague" in the state of Alagoas, county of Viço sa (1), Silva and Valença, (8), record ed species of the family Sciuridae in the state of Ceara. Sciurus alphonseiI t should be added th a t plague is known to occur in Brazil in forest as well as in sem i-arid ("caatinga") regions.According to th e views above expressed the author decided to test th e laboratory susceptibility of Sciurus alphonsei to two strains of Pasteurella pestis. MATERIAL AND METHODSThe experim ents were conducted in the period ol October 1967 to March 1968 Six specimens of Sciurus alphonsei were utilized for th e inoculation experiments. The anim ais belonging to both sexes and different origins, were kept in laboratory Instituto N acional de E n d em ia s R u ra is -C entro de P esq u i sa s Aggeu M agalhães -R ecife -B rasil This w o rk w as su p p o rte d in p a r t by a G ran t fro m SUD ENE f o r resoarch on P lague in N ortheastern Recife, B razil.

NEOSQUIRREL: a data set of ecological knowledge on Neotropical squirrels

“…Plague Yersinia pestis was found in Simosciurus nebouxii, and transmission to humans was confirmed in Loja department, Ecuador (Macchiavello 1957). In laboratory conditions, the squirrel Guerlinguetus brasiliensis was vulnerable to plague infections (Mello 1968), although we found no data about such interactions in natural conditions. Other zoonotic diseases of economic importance, due to the threat to livestock, were found in the literature; the squirrels Sciurus variegatoides and Notosciurus granatensis were killed by Besnoitia darlingi infection (Schneider 1967), and Hadrosciurus spadiceus was a host of Eimeria damnosa (Lainson et al 2005).…”