A Taxonomic Update of Small Mammal Plague Reservoirs in South America

Abstract

Plague is a disease of epidemic potential that may emerge with discontinuous outbreaks. In South America, 50 wild rodent species have been identified as plague reservoirs, in addition to one lagomorph and two marsupials. To review the nomenclature of plague reservoirs, we examined specimens collected in plague foci, carried out new surveys in Brazilian plague regions, and re-evaluated the nomenclature of South American reservoirs on the basis of the current literature. Five of the 15 species involved with plague in Argentina, three of 10 species involved with plague in Bolivia, three of the seven species involved with plague in Peru, five of the nine species involved with plague in Ecuador, and six of the nine species involved with plague in Brazil have undergone taxonomic changes. In the last 20 years, plague cases were recorded in Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, and Peru. These four countries have a high rodent species richness in plague foci, a fact that may be decisive for the maintenance of plague in the wild.

Descriptions of two new species of flea of the genus Plocopsylla in northwestern Argentina

“…Given their geographical distributions in the Andean region bordering plague endemic areas, further studies are needed to confirm the roles of pathogens transmitted by these species. Likewise, reports of new flea–rodent associations are important because rodents are the main hosts of fleas (Bonvicino et al ., ), accommodating 74% of known flea species (Krasnov et al ., ).…”

“…It is important to study insects of the order Siphonaptera from not only a taxonomic but also an epidemiological point of view because their function as vectors of pathogens provides a natural avenue for pathogen dispersal (Bitam et al ., ). Fleas are capable of transmitting pathogenic organisms to wild and domestic animals and even to humans (Bonvicino et al ., ). Plague is the most notorious flea‐borne disease known to man and is a re‐emerging public health issue, particularly in Africa and South America (in Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador and Peru) (Eisen & Gage, ; Pan American Health Organization, ).…”

Fleas of the genus Neotyphloceras associated with rodents from Bolivia: new host and distributional records, description of a new species and remarks on the morphology of Neotyphloceras rosenbergi

“…As this re‐emerging zoonotic disease has a global distribution and can severely affect public health, the implementation of biodiversity surveys and subsequent vector control strategies is urgent (Brooks et al ., ). In Bolivia, plague is endemic in the Andean region, mainly in the mountainous areas of the Departments of La Paz, Chuquisaca, Santa Cruz and Tarija, and several rodent species have been identified as natural reservoirs (DVEP: Bolivia, ; Ruiz, ; Álvaro et al ., ; Schneider et al ., ; Bonvicino et al ., ). Specifically, members of the genus of Neotyphloceras have a mainly Andean–Patagonian distribution (Sanchez et al ., ).…”

Rodents and other small mammal reservoirs in plague foci in northeastern Brazil

“…Samples of blood and tissues (spleen or liver) were collected for analyses; skin and carcasses were preserved for taxonomic studies and deposited in zoological collections. In this study, the updated nomenclature of rodents according to Bonvicino et al [16] was adopted.…”