Crested Porcupine (Hystrix cristata L.): A New Potential Host for Pathogenic Leptospira Among Semi-Fossorial Mammals

Coppola, Francesca; Cilia, Giovanni; Bertelloni, Fabrizio; Casini, Lucia; D’Addio, Enrico; Fratini, Filippo; Cerri, Domenico; Felicioli, Antonio

doi:10.1016/j.cimid.2020.101472

Cited by 17 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 29 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Scavenging behaviour by porcupines could also be a route to infection of zoonotic diseases. The recent detection of Giardia duodenalis 35 , several Leptospira serogroups 36 and the isolation of Leptospira serovar Pomona 37 in crested porcupines supports this possibility. Further investigations are necessary how scavenging behaviour in crested porcupines relates to age, sex, and physiological state.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Evidence of scavenging behaviour in crested porcupine

Coppola

Guerrieri²,

Simoncini³

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The vegetarian diet of many herbivorous mammals is supplemented with proteins of animal origin, especially in young individuals and in breeding females, to provide key proteins necessary for both growth and breeding. Among porcupine species, only the Cape porcupine ( Hystrix africaeaustralis ) has been observed to consume carrion flesh. From June to August 2019, a pigeon carcass was placed together with corn in 7 study settlements and near 2 monitored capture-traps, in order to assess the carrion flesh feeding habits of the crested porcupine ( Hystrix cristata ) . Scavenging behaviour was recorded on four occasions. All the recorded individuals were adults and at least one was female. This demonstrates that the crested porcupine occasionally does eat flesh. Such evidence raises important questions concerning the relationship between feeding habits and the physiological needs of this herbivorous rodent.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Evidence of scavenging behaviour in crested porcupine

Coppola

Guerrieri²,

Simoncini³

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Only recently, crested porcupine was investigated as potential vector or host for a wide range of parasites and micro‐organisms, such as fleas and hard ticks (Mori et al., 2015; Scaravelli, Senini, & Bonacci, 2017), Giardia duodenalis (Coppola, Maestrini, et al, 2020) and pathogenic Leptospira (Coppola, Cilia, et al, 2020). For the first time, L. interrogans serogroup Pomona serovar Pomona was isolated from one out of two analysed porcupine kidneys.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recently, crested porcupine ( Hystrix cristata , L. 1758) sera collected in Italy resulted positive for serogroup Icterohaemorrhagiae, Australis and Pomona (Coppola, Cilia, et al, 2020). Furthermore, among porcupines (Rodentia; Hystricomorpha), Leptospira serovar Pomona, was isolated from the blood, urine and kidney of one North American porcupine, Erethizon dorsatum (Mitchell, Robertson, Corner, & Boulanger, 1966).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Isolation of Leptospira serovar Pomona from a crested porcupine (Hystrix cristata, L., 1758)

Cilia

Bertelloni

Coppola

et al. 2020

Veterinary Medicine & Sci

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Pathogenic Leptospira is widespread in rodents, the most studied reservoir and the main hosts involved in its transmission. In Italy, among rodents, Hystrix cristata (crested porcupine) is the largest species and it is distributed all over the country. In this paper, the isolation and characterization of pathogenic Leptospira spp. from the kidney of H. cristata is reported for the first time. During Autumn 2018, Leptospira detection by real‐time PCR and isolation were performed from kidneys of two died female porcupines (an adult and a porcupette). Only for porcupette kidney sample, real‐time PCR for pathogenic Leptospira tested positive. The isolated strain was identified as Leptospira interrogans serogroup Pomona serovar Pomona, using the three schemes of multilocus sequence typing. The results show that H. cristata could be a Leptospira host. The infection of serovars Pomona could be related to the habitat shared with wild boar, a typical reservoir host for this serovar.

show abstract

“…Accidental contact with Leptospira-infected urine represents the first cause of infection, that could produce clinical disease [1]. So, the Leptospira epidemiology is closely related to the maintenance host species, generally linked to a specific Leptospira serovar; usually Icterohaemorrhagiae and Ballum serogroups are associated with rodents [6][7][8][9], Pomona and Tarassovi serogroups with pigs and wild boar [10][11][12][13], Bratislava serogroup with horses [14,15] and Sejroe serogroup with bovines and ovine [16,17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leptospira Infections in Domestic and Wild Animals

2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Leptospirosis is a worldwide-distributed, re-emerging zoonosis due to the large variety of wild and domestic animal species that can play the role of natural or accidental host. Currently, specific animal species play an important role as the reservoir for particular Leptospira serovars, although recent investigations have highlighted new host–pathogen interactions involved in Leptospira epidemiology. Furthermore, the constant modification of ecosystems and wildlife habitats and the constantly increasing number of animal species moving towards urban or peri-urban areas are increasing the possibility of direct or indirect contacts between wildlife and domestic animals; furthermore, the constant modification of animal leptospirosis also causes problems for human health. The studies published in this Special Issue have evidenced and confirmed the hidden role of a large variety of animal species, domestic and wild, in the leptospirosis epidemiology. They highlighted the necessity for continuous monitoring and large-scale surveillance studies to better understand this neglected and re-emerging zoonosis.

show abstract

Crested Porcupine (Hystrix cristata L.): A New Potential Host for Pathogenic Leptospira Among Semi-Fossorial Mammals

Cited by 17 publications

References 29 publications

Evidence of scavenging behaviour in crested porcupine

Evidence of scavenging behaviour in crested porcupine

Isolation of Leptospira serovar Pomona from a crested porcupine (Hystrix cristata, L., 1758)

Leptospira Infections in Domestic and Wild Animals

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About