Original articleNew Rickettsia species in soft ticks Ornithodoros hasei collected from bats in French Guiana
Introduction
Rickettsiae are obligate intracellular gram-negative bacteria transmitted by blood-feeding arthropods, primarily ticks, which may act as vectors, reservoirs, and/or amplifiers in the life cycles of the bacteria (Raoult and Roux, 1997). Ixodid ticks, also called hard ticks, are the main vectors of Rickettsiae (Parola et al., 2013). There are at least six genera (Rhipicephalus, Dermacentor, Amblyomma, Haemaphysalis, Hyalomma and Ixodes) which are recognized as competent vectors (Parola and Raoult, 2001). Concerning soft ticks (Argasidae), R. bellii is found in both Argas and Ornithodoros genera, and it is the most common Rickettsia found in ticks in United States of America (Raoult and Roux, 1997, Ogata et al., 2006). Recently described, the spotted fever group Rickettsia hoogstraalii is regularly identified in Ornithodoros spp. and Haemaphysalis spp. ticks (Duh et al., 2010, Dietrich et al., 2014). In humans, rickettsiae are the causative agents of the tick-borne rickettsioses, characterized by clinical features including fever, headache, rash, and occasional eschar formation at the site of the tick bite (Parola et al., 2013).
French Guiana is an overseas territory situated between Brazil and Suriname, and its size (84,000 km2) is equivalent to about one fifth of the territory of mainland France; it is a sparsely populated department. Its climate is equatorial (hot and humid) and the Amazon rainforest covers 90% of its territory. Its ecosystem is characterized by a rich fauna and flora (5500 species of plants, 700 species of birds, and 177 species of mammals) and a dense river network. To our knowledge, in French Guiana only one Rickettsia, Candidatus R. amblyommii, has been detected in Amblyomma coelebs ticks (Parola et al., 2007). This rickettsia, with unknown pathogenic potential, is very common in North and Central America (Parola et al., 2013).
In French Guiana, bats of different species are very numerous. It is estimated that there are approximately 110 species. The infection of bats and their ticks with bacterial pathogens such as Rickettsia spp., Bartonella spp., Borrelia spp. and Coxiella burnetii is so far unknown. In order to improve the knowledge of these zoonotic pathogens in this country, the presence and diversity of these tick-transmitted pathogens were investigated with molecular tools in bat ticks.
Section snippets
Study site and bat samples
In January 2013, 32 bats (Chiroptera) were caught in Saint-Jean-du-Maroni (05°23′95″N–54°04′72″W), an area close to the coast of French Guiana, and the ticks (N = 354) of these animals were collected. Bats were caught with mist nets. Catches occurred in unoccupied buildings. The identification of bats was performed using previously described conventional morphological keys (Brosset and Charles-Dominique, 1990).
Collection and identification of ticks
A total of 32 apparently healthy bats were captured; species and sex were identified.
Tick identification
In the location of Saint Jean du Maroni, a total of 32 bats belonging to Noctilio albiventris (Fig. 1) were captured and examined; 12 (37.5%) of them (8 males and 4 females) were found to be infested with soft tick larvae. The bats’ infestation varied between 4 and 67 ticks per specimen, with an average infestation of 29.5 ± 21. During this study, a total of 354 tick larvae were collected (Table 1). Of these, 16 ticks were randomly selected and identified with molecular tools as Ornithodoros hasei
Discussion
In French Guiana, bats are very numerous, with a great diversity of species. The order Chiroptera comprises more than 100 species. Bats represent 54% of the total number of wild animal species (Charles-Dominique et al., 2001). The lesser bulldog bat (Noctilio albiventris) is an insectivorous and occasionally carnivorous bat of the Neotropic ecozone. Its distribution range extends from southern Mexico to eastern Brazil, then south into northern Argentina and Peru (Wilson and Reeder, 1993).
Bats
Conflict of interest statement
All the authors declare no conflicts of interest related to this article.
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by the AMIDEX project (No. ANR-11-IDEX-0001-02) funded by the “Investissements d’Avenir,” a French Government program managed by the French National Research Agency (ANR) and Foundation Méditerranée Infection (www.mediterranee-infection.com). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. This work was also supported by the medical service of the French armed forces. We thank Annick Abeille
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