1. Molecular survey of rodent-borne Trypanosoma in Niger with special emphasis on T. lewisi imported by invasive black rats
- Author
-
Dobigny, Gauthier, Poirier, Philippe, Hima, Karmadine, Cabaret, Odile, Gauthier, Philippe, Tatard, Caroline, Costa, Jean-Marc, and Bretagne, Stéphane
- Subjects
- *
MOLECULAR biology , *TRYPANOSOMA , *RATTUS rattus , *PARASITES , *DISEASE prevalence , *KARYOTYPES , *POLYMERASE chain reaction , *RECOMBINANT DNA , *DNA - Abstract
Abstract: Invading rodent species can harbor parasites with potential transmission to native rodents and/or humans. To investigate trypanosomes prevalence in rodents, the spleen of 76 rodents from Niger identified by their karyotype was used as a DNA source for Trypanosoma detection using a newly developed qPCR assay. Of the invasive black rat, Rattus rattus, 71% (10/14) were PCR positive as well as 6% (4/62) of native African rodents. Sequences of ∼400bp of the SSU rDNA gene identified phylogenetically close Trypanosoma lineages. Trypanosoma lewisi was present in all positive black rats and the sequences displayed 100% similarity with T. lewisi-infected humans in Senegal. T. lewisi was also detected in one Acomys johannis, suggesting a possible transmission to native species. In addition to improved knowledge of Trypanosoma diversity in rodents, our data underscore the introduction of the potentially pathogenic T. lewisi kinetoplastid through the human-mediated invasion of black rats all over West Africa. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]
- Published
- 2011
- Full Text
- View/download PDF