Tularemia and plague survey in rodents in an earthquake zone in southeastern Iran

Abstract

OBJECTIVES:Earthquakes are one the most common natural disasters that lead to increased mortality and morbidity from transmissible diseases, partially because the rodents displaced by an earthquake can lead to an increased rate of disease transmission. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of plague and tularemia in rodents in the earthquake zones in southeastern Iran.METHODS:In April 2013, a research team was dispatched to explore the possible presence of diseases in rodents displaced by a recent earthquake magnitude 7.7 around the cities of Khash and Saravan in Sistan and Baluchestan Province. Rodents were trapped near and in the earthquake zone, in a location where an outbreak of tularemia was reported in 2007. Rodent serums were tested for a serological survey using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.RESULTS:In the 13 areas that were studied, nine rodents were caught over a total of 200 trap-days. Forty-eight fleas and 10 ticks were obtained from the rodents. The ticks were from the Hyalomma genus and the fleas were from the Xenopsylla genus. All the trapped rodents were Tatera indica. Serological results were negative for plague, but the serum agglutination test was positive for tularemia in one of the rodents. Tatera indica has never been previously documented to be involved in the transmission of tularemia.CONCLUSIONS:No evidence of the plague cycle was found in the rodents of the area, but evidence was found of tularemia infection in rodents, as demonstrated by a positive serological test for tularemia in one rodent.

Molecular Survey of Tularemia and Plague in Small Mammals From Iran

“…Over the years, additional serology findings have verified that tularemia exists also in other parts of Iran. Recent studies of rodents in the southeast and west of Iran showed the presence of antibodies against F. tularensis (Pourhossein et al, 2015 ; Mostafavi et al, 2017 ). In another study of humans in 2014 in the Sistan and Baluchistan province southeast of Iran, the seroprevalence of tularemia among butchers and workers of slaughterhouses was estimated to be 6.5% (Esmaeili et al, 2014b ).…”

“…The results of these studies suggest that tularemia may be underdiagnosed in Iran and that enhanced disease surveillance would be valuable (Esmaeili et al, 2014a , b ; Khoshdel et al, 2014 ; Zargar et al, 2015 ). In 2013, F. tularensis -specific antibodies were found in rodents in the southeast and west of Iran indicating that small mammals may be involved in disease transmission (Pourhossein et al, 2015 ; Mostafavi et al, 2017 ).…”

The prevalence of Francisella spp. in different natural surface water samples collected from northwest of Iran

“…The first human case of tularemia was reported in 1980 in Marivan city in Kurdistan province (6) and recently the second case of tularemia were reported in 2017 from a village near Marivan city (7). In recent years, the antibody against tularemia was also reported in rodents in the southeast and west of Iran (8, 9). In a study in 2014 in Sistan and Baluchistan province, southeast of Iran, the seroprevalence of tularemia amongst butchers and slaughterhouse workers was 6.52% and in another study on high risk groups in Kurdistan province, west of Iran, prevalence of antibodies against tularemia was reported 14.4% (10, 11).…”

“…Due to the fact that tularemia is an endemic disease in Turkey (Iran's northwest neighbor) and several clinical cases of this disease are reported annually from that country (18), and because of the recent detection of tularemia antibodies in the human population of the Republic of Azerbaijan (Iran's northern neighbor) (15), and recent evidences of the circulation of the bacteria in Iran (8–11), taking into account the fact that there is no information respect to contamination of water samples to Francisella spp. in Iran, this study was conducted to evaluate the surface waters in two north western provinces, Kurdistan and West Azerbaijan.…”

Upsurge of Rodents’ Population in a Rural Area of Northeastern Iran Raised Concerns about Rodent-borne Diseases

“…In a study in 1973, tularemia was reported in a hedgehog in southeastern Iran [17,18]. Recently, tularemia infection was detected in high-risk human populations and rodents of Sistan and Baluchistan province, Southeast of Iran [19,20].…”