Molecular Survey of Zoonotic Agents in Rodents and Other Small Mammals in Croatia

Abstract

Abstract. Croatia is a focus for many rodent-borne zoonosis. Here, we report a survey of 242 rodents and small mammals, including 43 Myodes glareolus, 131 Apodemus flavicollis, 53 Apodemus agrarius, three Apodemus sylvaticus, six Sorex araneus, four Microtus arvalis, one Microtus agrestis, and one Muscardinus avellanarius, collected at eight sites in Croatia over an 8-year period. Multiplex MassTag polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used for detection of Borrelia, Rickettsia, Bartonella, Babesia, Ehrlichia, Anaplasma, Francisella tularensis, and Coxiella burnetii. Individual PCR assays were used for detection of Leptospira, lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus, orthopoxviruses, flaviviruses, hantaviruses, and Toxoplasma gondii. Of the rodents, 52 (21.5%) were infected with Leptospira, 9 (3.7%) with Borrelia miyamotoi, 5 (2%) with Borrelia afzelii, 29 (12.0%) with Bartonella, 8 (3.3%) with Babesia microti, 2 (0.8%) with Ehrlichia, 4 (1.7%) with Anaplasma, 2 (0.8%) with F. tularensis, 43 (17.8%) with hantaviruses, and 1 (0.4%) with an orthopoxvirus. Other agents were not detected. Multiple infections were found in 32 rodents (13.2%): dual infections in 26 rodents (10.7%), triple infections in four rodents (2.9%), and quadruple infections in two rodents (0.8%). Our findings indicate that rodents in Croatia harbor a wide range of bacteria and viruses that are pathogenic to humans.

The enzootic life-cycle of Borrelia burgdorferi (sensu lato) and tick-borne rickettsiae: an epidemiological study on wild-living small mammals and their ticks from Saxony, Germany

“…Studies from other European countries confirm that B. afzelii is a genospecies which is associated with rodents [70, 71]. In Europe, MLST was performed for the identification and genotyping of Borrelia spp.…”

Molecular and serological prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii and Anaplasma spp. infection in goats from Chongqing Municipality, China

“…Co-infection by T. gondii and Anaplasma has been reported in rodents [ 27 ], dogs [ 10 ], ticks [ 35 ], and wild boars [ 22 ]. However, a survey on the occurrence of goats co-infected by T. gondii and Anaplasma was only reported in Slovakia [ 8 ].…”

Spotted fever rickettsiae in wild-living rodents from south-western Poland

“…Research addressing the presence of Rickettsia DNA in European rodents in nature conducted in The Netherlands [ 34 ], Germany [ 6 ], Austria [ 35 ], and Slovakia [ 36 ] showed a prevalence of Rickettsia infection varying from 2.7 to 29%, with R. helvetica as the most frequent species. However, in other studies in which tissue samples of rodents and other small mammals were examined for the presence of Rickettsia DNA, results were negative [ 7 , 23 , 25 , 37 , 38 ]. Simultaneously, the presence of rickettsial DNA was revealed in ticks, fleas and mites removed from rodents [ 18 , 23 , 25 , 34 , 36 , 37 ].…”