Detection of Lyme Disease and Q Fever Agents in Wild Rodents in Central Italy

Abstract

The maintenance of tick-borne disease agents in the environment strictly depends on the relationship between tick vectors and their hosts, which act as reservoirs for these pathogens. A pilot study aimed to investigate wild rodents as reservoirs for zoonotic tick-borne pathogens (Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.), Coxiella burnetii, Francisella tularensis, and Anaplasma phagocytophilum) was carried out in an area of Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park (Abruzzi Region, central Italy), a wide protected area where, despite sporadic reports of infection in humans and animals, eco-epidemiological data on these diseases are still not available. Rodents were trapped and released at the capture site after the collection of feeding ticks and blood samples. In all, 172 ticks were collected; the most frequent species was Ixodes acuminatus (53%). Out of 88 tick pools, 11 resulted positive for C. burnetii and 13 for B. burgdorferi s.l.; the Borrelia afzelii genospecies was identified in one Ixodes ricinus tick collected from one Apodemus sp. rodent. Out of 143 blood samples, seven Apodemus spp. and five Myodes glareolus were positive for B. burgdorferi s.l. and two Apodemus spp. were positive for C. burnetii. All samples (ticks and blood) were negative for F. tularensis and A. phagocytophilum. This is the first report of B. burgdorferi s.l. in the environment for Abruzzi Region. Data on the presence of B. burgdorferi s.l. are similar to that observed in other Mediterranean countries. The present work is also the first report of C. burnetii in wild rodents in Italy. C. burnetii infection has been largely investigated in Italy in ruminant farms by serology and molecular methods, but information on ecology and on the wild cycle are still lacking. Further studies including genotyping should be performed and species-specific differences between wild rodent reservoirs of Q fever and Lyme disease agents should be investigated.

Molecular survey on the occurrence of avian haemosporidia, Coxiella burnetii and Francisella tularensis in waterfowl from central Italy

“…On the basis of previous epidemiological studies in mammals and data relative to human infections, F. tularensis seems to not be largely present in Italy (Pascucci et al, 2015; Ebani et al, 2016, 2017; Graziani et al, 2016; Rocchigiani et al, 2018), thus the negative results of the tested waterfowl could reflect the true epidemiological status. F. tularensis has been proven to be able to infect different avian species, thus birds could be cause of infection for humans.…”

Zoonotic tick-borne bacteria among wild boars (Sus scrofa) in Central Italy

“…burgdorferi s.l. is currently considered the most common tick-borne pathogen in the northern hemisphere and it has been frequently detected in ticks and wild animals in Italy [17][18][19][20][21][22]. Several vertebrates are involved in the cycle of this agent, but the role of wild boars is currently not defined [7].…”

Urban rodent reservoirs of Borrelia spp. in Warsaw, Poland

“…Nevertheless, based on our results, the lack of voles in the study area did not entail any significant increase in the prevalence of Borrelia spp. infection in Apodemus mice as compared with infection levels ascertained for these species inhabiting natural woodlands [30, 31].…”