Oxyurid nematodes of pet rodents in Slovakia - a neglected zoonotic threat / Nematódeos oxiurídeos de roedores de estimação na Eslováquia - uma ameaça zoonótica negligenciada

Abstract The role of rodents as reservoirs of helminths of public health importance is not well known. The zoonotic potential of Syphacia spp. has been confirmed; therefore, the study aimed to estimate the occurrence of oxyurid nematodes in small rodents from pet shops and breeding clubs in Slovakia. Fecal samples of 586 pet rodents kept in 133 cages were collected between 2016 and 2018 and examined by Faust´s flotation method. Four species of oxyurid nematodes, Syphacia muris, S. obvelata, Aspiculuris tetraptera and Paraspidodera uncinata were detected. A. tetraptera was found in the faecal samples of all rodent species included in this survey. The number of positive boxes varied from 5.4% in hamsters to 70.0% with mice. The prevalence of Syphacia muris was highest in Mongolian gerbils where up to 75.0% boxes were positive; S. obvelata was found in 26.7% of boxes with mice, 25.0% of boxes with Mongolian gerbils and 3.2% of boxes with rats. The high prevalence of Syphacia spp. in all animal species points out the infection risk for humans. Animals offered for sale are often in close contact with human beings; therefore they should be regularly tested for parasites and then effectively dewormed.

Resumo O papel dos roedores como reservatórios de helmintos de importância para a saúde pública não é bem conhecido. O potencial zoonótico de Syphacia spp. foi confirmado; portanto, o estudo teve como objetivo estimar a ocorrência de nematóides oxiurídeos em pequenos roedores de pet shops e clubes de reprodução na Eslováquia. Amostras fecais de 586 roedores mantidos em 133 gaiolas foram coletadas entre 2016 e 2018 e examinadas pelo método de flotação de Faust. Foram detectadas quatro espécies de nematódeos oxiurídeos, Syphacia muris, S. obvelata, Aspiculuris tetraptera e Paraspidodera uncinata, A. tetraptera foi encontrado nas amostras fecais de todas as espécies de roedores incluídas nesta pesquisa. O número de gaiolas positivas variou de 5,4% em hamsters a 70,0% em camundongos. A prevalência de Syphacia muris foi maior nos gerbilos da Mongólia, onde até 75,0% das gaiolas foram positivas; S. obvelata foi encontrada em 26,7% das gaiolas com camundongos, 25,0% das gaiolas com gerbilos da Mongólia e 3,2% das gaiolas com ratos. A alta prevalência de Syphacia spp. em todas as espécies animais aponta o risco de infecção para os seres humanos. Animais oferecidos para venda estão frequentemente em contato próximo com seres humanos; portanto, eles devem ser regularmente testados quanto a parasitas e, então, efetivamente desparasitados.

Serological evidence of exposure to tick-borne agents in opossums (Didelphis spp. ) in the state of São Paulo, Brazil / Evidência sorológica de exposição a agentes transmitidos por carrapatos em gambás (Didelphis spp. ) no estado de São Paulo, Brasil

Abstract This work involved a serological investigation of tick-borne pathogens in opossums in eight municipalities of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Serum samples from 109 opossums (91 Didelphis aurita and 18 Didelphis albiventris) were tested to detect antibodies to Rickettsia rickettsii (Taiaçu strain, 1:64 cut-off) and Ehrlichia canis (São Paulo strain, 1:40 cut-off), by indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA); and against Borrelia burgdorferi (strain G39/40) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The presence of antibodies to anti-R. rickettsii, anti-E. canis and anti-B. burgdorferi was detected in 32 (29.35%), 16 (14.67%) and 30 (27.52%) opossums, respectively. Opossum endpoint titers ranged from 64 to 1,024 for R. rickettsii, from 40 to 160 for E. canis, and from 400 to >51,200 for B. burgdorferi. These serological results suggest that opossums have been exposed to Rickettsia spp., Ehrlichia spp., and B. burgdorferi-related agents in the state of São Paulo. Our study underscores the need for further research about these agents in this study area, in view of the occurrence of Spotted Fever and Baggio-Yoshinari Syndrome disease in humans in the state of São Paulo, Brazil.

Resumo O presente estudo investigou evidência sorológica de agentes transmitidos por carrapatos em gambás em oito municípios do Estado de São Paulo, Brasil. Amostras de soro de 109 gambás (91 Didelphis aurita e 18 Didelphis albiventris) foram testadas para detecção de anticorpos contra Rickettsia rickettsii (cepa Taiaçu, ponto de corte 1:64) Ehrlichia canis (cepa São Paulo, ponto de corte 1:40), pela reação de imunofluorescência indireta (RIFI); e contra Borrelia burgdorferi (cepa G39/40) pelo teste imunoenzimático (ELISA). A presença de anticorpos anti-R. rickettsii, anti-E. canis e anti-B. burgdorferi foi detectada em 32 (29,35%), 16 (14,67%) e 30 (27,52%) gambás, respectivamente. Os títulos finais variaram de 64 a 1.024 para R. rickettsii, de 40 a 160 para E. canis, e de 400 a >51.200 para B. burgdorferi. Esses resultados sugerem que os gambás foram expostos a agentes relacionados à Rickettsia spp., Ehrlichia spp., e B. burgdorferi no Estado de São Paulo. Neste estudo salienta a necessidade de novas pesquisas sobre esses agentes nessas áreas de trabalho, devido à ocorrência da Febre Maculosa e da Síndrome Baggio-Yoshinari em humanos no Estado de São Paulo, Brasil.

Toxoplasmosis seroprevalence in urban rodents: a survey in Niamey, Niger

A serological survey of Toxoplasma gondii was conducted on 766 domestic and peridomestic rodents from 46 trapping sites throughout the city of Niamey, Niger. A low seroprevalence was found over the whole town with only 1.96% of the rodents found seropositive. However, differences between species were important, ranging from less than 2% in truly commensal Mastomys natalensis, Rattus rattus and Mus musculus, while garden-associated Arvicanthis niloticus displayed 9.1% of seropositive individuals. This is in line with previous studies on tropical rodents - that we reviewed here - which altogether show that Toxoplasma seroprevalence in rodent is highly variable, depending on many factors such as locality and/or species. Moreover, although we were not able to decipher statistically between habitat or species effect, such a contrast between Nile grass rats and the other rodent species points towards a potentially important role of environmental toxoplasmic infection. This would deserve to be further scrutinised since intra-city irrigated cultures are extending in Niamey, thus potentially increasing Toxoplasma circulation in this yet semi-arid region. As far as we are aware of, our study is one of the rare surveys of its kind performed in Sub-Saharan Africa and the first one ever conducted in the Sahel.

Diagnosis of hantavirus infection in humans and rodents in Ribeirão Preto, State of São Paulo, Brazil / Diagnóstico de infecção por hantavírus em humanos e roedores em Ribeirão Preto, Estado de São Paulo

INTRODUCTION: Hantavirus pulmonary and cardiovascular syndrome (HPCS) is an emerging serious disease in the Americas. Hantaviruses (Bunyaviridae) are the causative agents of this syndrome and are mainly transmitted through inhalation of aerosols containing the excreta of wild rodents. In the Ribeirão Preto region (state of São Paulo, Brazil), HPCS has been reported since 1998, caused by the Araraquara virus (ARAV), for which Necromys lasiurus is the rodent reservoir. This study aimed to show diagnostic results relating to infection in humans and rodents, obtained at the Virology Research Center of the Ribeirão Preto School of Medicine, University of São Paulo, between 2005 and 2008. METHODS: HPCS was diagnosed by means of ELISA and/or RT-PCR in 11 (21.2 percent) out of 52 suspected cases, and 54.4 percent of these were fatal. Furthermore, 595 wild rodents (Necromys lasiurus, Akodon sp, Calomys tener and Oligoryzomys sp) were caught between 2005 and 2008. RESULTS: Fifteen (2.5 percent) of these rodents presented antibodies for hantavirus, as follows: Necromys lasiurus (4 percent), Calomys tener (1.9 percent) and Akodon sp (1.5 percent). Nucleotide sequences obtained through RT-PCR from one HPCS patient and one Calomys tener rodent were compared with hantavirus sequences from GenBank, which showed that both were homologous with ARAV. CONCLUSIONS: This work corroborates previous studies showing that ARAV is the hantavirus causing HPCS in the Ribeirão Preto region. It also shows that rodents infected with hantavirus represent a constant risk of transmission of this virus to man.

INTRODUÇÃO: A síndrome pulmonar e cardiovascular por hantavírus é uma doença grave emergente nas Américas. Os hantavírus, Bunyaviridae, são os agentes causadores desta síndrome, causadas, principalmente, pela inalação de aerossóis dos dejetos de roedores silvestres. Na região de Ribeirão Preto, a SPCVH, causada pelo vírus Araraquara, tem sido diagnosticada, desde 1998. O roedor-reservatório do ARAV é o Necromys lasiurus. Este tem como objetivo mostrar os resultados de diagnósticos da infecção de humanos e roedores obtidos no Centro de Pesquisa em Virologia da Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto da Universidade de São Paulo, durante o período de 2005 a 2008. MÉTODOS: A síndrome pulmonar e cardiovascular por hantavírus foi diagnosticada, por ELISA e/ou RT-PCR, em 11 (21,2 por cento) dos 52 casos suspeitos e destes, 54,4 por cento foram casos fatais. Além disso, também, de 2005 a 2008, foram capturados 595 roedores silvestres, Necromys lasiurus, Akodon sp, Calomys tener e Oligoryzomys sp. RESULTADOS: Quinze (2,5 por cento) destes roedores apresentaram anticorpos para hantavírus. As soropositividades intraespécie ou gênero foram 4 por cento para Necromys lasiurus, 1,9 por cento para Calomys tener e 1,5 por cento para Akodon sp. Sequências nucleotídicas, obtidas pela RT-PCR de um paciente com SPCVH e de um roedor Calomys tener, foram comparadas com sequências de hantavírus do GenBank, o que mostrou que ambas tinham homologia com o ARAV. CONCLUSÕES: Este trabalho corrobora outros estudos que mostram que o ARAV é o hantavírus causador da SPCVH, na região de Ribeirão Preto, além de mostrar que roedores infectados por hantavírus representam um risco constante de transmissão desses vírus para o homem.

A rare case of trypanosomiasis in a two month old infant in Mumbai, India.

Human Trypanosomiasis is a rare occurrence in India. In the cases reported so far the disease causative species have been the species infective to animals viz., Trypanosoma lewisi and Trypanosoma evansi. These animal species usually non pathogenic in humans can acquire the desired virulence and emerge as human pathogens causing serious disease, in the right combination of environmental, host related and organism related factors. We report here a case of trypanosomiasis caused by the rodent parasite T. lewisi in a two months old infant in urban Mumbai. Under the fastly changing environmental scenario there is an urgent need to be prepared for the emerging zoonoses. Any unusual disease occurrence in a given geographical area acquires a special significance in this context and should be reported to assess its public health importance and be prepared to deal with the consequent challenges posed, if any.

Leishmaniose cutânea em cobaias (Cavia porcellus) / Cutaneous leishmaniasis in guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus)

Säo descritos três casos de leishmaniose cutânea em cobaias (Cavia porcellus) machos de dois anos de idade que eram criadas como animais de estimaçäo. As lesöes macroscópicas eram semelhantes em duas cobaias e consistiam de nódulos cutâneos ulcerados no aspecto dorsal do pavilhäo auricular de ambas as orelhas. Na outra cobaia, a lesäo consistia de engrossamentos irregulares na pele do escroto que apareceram após uma orquiectomia realizada dois meses antes. A histopatologia era semelhante nos três casos e consistia de acentuada dermatite granulomatosa, com ulceraçäo e numerosas formas protozoárias amastigotas no citoplasma de macrófagos, sugestivas de Leishmania sp. A microscopia eletrônica confirmou o diagnóstico de leishmaniose.

Serodiagnosis of alveolar echinococcosis: detection of antibody against EM18 in patients and rodents.

An international collaborative study on echinococcosis has been carried out for the establishment of a simple means for differential serodiagnosis of alveolar echinococcosis (AE) from other parasitic diseases including cystic echinococcosis (CE). The main candidate epitope is Em18 (previously undescribed epitope of a low molecular weight protein of 18.5 kDa). Evaluation of the usefulness of Em18 is introduced in this review paper. Serum samples showing antibody response against Em18 are exclusively from AE. The predominant IgG subclass recognizing Em18 is IgG4 or IgG1 or IgG4 + IgG1 but never IgG2. There are good correlations between (1) the antibody response against Em18 and the presence of active lesions and (2) the antibody response against Em18 and the Em2-ELISA values. Em18 is, therefore, expected to be reasonably reliable and useful for differentiation of active AE from inactive AE. A new ELISA system using a partially purified Em18 enriched fraction (PP-Em 18/16-ELISA) has been evaluated for serodiagnosis of AE compared with Em2plus-ELISA. A total of 194 serum samples were examined: 127 sera from AE (79) and CE (48) in China where both AE and CE are endemic, 21 sera from CE in Australia where CE only exists, 28 sera from cysticercosis (21), paragonimiasis (5) or sparganasis (2) in Korea where no indigenous AE nor CE exists and 11 normal sera. Antibody levels by PP-Em18/16-ELISA were much higher in AE than in CE and it was also true for commercially available Em2plus-ELISA. Some of CE from China showed exceptionally higher levels of antibody in comparison with those of CE from Australia. It is suggested that these strongly positive cases of CE from China may have been exposed to both species of Echinococcus. Although most of sera from paragonimiasis showed high antibody levels by Emplus-ELISA, they were negative by PP-Em18/16-ELISA. Therefore, PP-Em18/16-ELISA is expected to be more reliable for differentiation of AE from CE and others especially in Asian countries where paragonimiasis is still not rare. Antibody responses in rodents naturally infected with E. multilocularis: Serum samples from the wild vole, Clethrionomys rufocanus bedfordiae, infected with E. multilocularis showed similar antibody responses as in AE patients, whereas those from Norway rats, Rattus norvegicus, showed almost none. The latter rodents were simultaneously infected with Taenia taeniaeformis but showed no antibody response against T. taeniaeformis either. Therefore, we speculate that Norway rats may only be infected with E. multilocularis under some immunosuppressed conditions or genetic unresponsiveness. It is stressed that Em18 is highly specific to E. multilocularis, and antibody response against Em18 is reasonably reliable for differentiation of AE from other helminthic infections by Western blot and ELISA in humans and may be useful for detection of domestic animals contaminated with E. multilocularis in the endemic area.

Prevalencia de infección por protozoos en roedores sinantrópicos de la ciudad de Valdivia en Chile / Prevalence of protozoa infections in synanthropic rodents in Valdivia city in Chile

Entre los meses de marzo y septiembre de 1986 se llevó a cabo un estudio de 57 roedores sinatrópicos en la ciudad de Valdivia, con el fin de determinar la prevalencia de la infección por protozoos en sangre y en los órganos del tracto digestivo. El grupo de animales estudiados comprendía roedores de ambos sexos, correspondiendo éstos a 42 machos y 15 hembras. El 70,2 por ciento de los animales investigados estaba parasitado, comprobándose la presencia de cinco especies de enteroprotozoos y una especie de hemoflagelado. El número y porcentaje encontrado fue el siguiente: giardia muris 21 (36,8 por ciento), hexamita muris 22 (38,6 por ciento), trichomonas muris 9 (15,8 por ciento), eimeria sp 15 (26,3 por ciento) y trypanosoma lewisi 9 (15,8 por ciento). Se analizaron los resultados en relación al sexo de los huéspedes, no encontrándose diferencias significativas. Además, se determinó el rendimiento del examen directo, flotación con solución de azúcar y SAFS en las muestras de deposiciones. La técnica de flotación mostró el más alto rendimiento en el diagnóstico de los coccidios, mientras que el SAFS fue más eficiente en la detección de giardia muris y entomoeba muris

Studies on the nematode parasites from Egyptian rodents 1- spirurid nematodes

Three spirurid nematode species have been collected from Egyptian rodents in Giza province. Streptopharagus kuntzi was collected from stomach and small intestine of Rattus ratus, R. norvegicus, Arvicanthis niloticus and Gerbillus gerbillus. Protospirura muris and P. marsupialis have also been collected from A. niloticus, R. rattus and R. norvegicus but P. marsupialis was collected only from the stomach while P. muris collected from stomach and small intestine. P. marsupialis was firstly recorded in Egypt during this work and no males of this species were collected. Females of S. kuntzi and P. muris showed marked dominance over males. Streptopharagus sudanensis and S. kuntzi are placed in synonomy

Detecçäo de leptospirose em ratos da cidade de Recife, Pernambuco, no período de 1983-1985 / Detection of lepstospirosis in rats of the city of Recife, Pernambuco, 1983-1985

Relata-se o encontro de leptospiras e anticorpos anti-leptospiricos em ratos capturados na cidade do Recife, Pernambuco, no periodo de 1983-1985