Short communicationMolecular detection of tick-borne bacterial agents in Brazilian and exotic captive carnivores
Introduction
Arthropod-borne diseases are of major global importance to human and animal health. The epidemiology of these diseases involves several infectious agents, hosts, and vectors (Harrus and Baneth, 2005). Both arthropods and arthropod-transmitted infections are expanding their zoogeographic range due to climatic, ecological, and environmental changes. The presence of domestic animals in wildlife environments has resulted in an increased association between wildlife reservoirs and vector species with human and pet activities (Shaw et al., 2001). Although globally important, human tick-borne diseases remain poorly studied in Brazil, where confirmed human Brazilian spotted fever cases have been reported in 13 states (De Sá del Fiol et al., 2010). In Minas Gerais state, antibodies to E. chaffeensis were identified among healthy humans and in patients with clinical signs compatible with tick-borne diseases (Calic et al., 2004, Costa et al., 2005, Costa et al., 2006).
While the occurrence of tick-borne agents in domestic animals in Brazil, mainly in dogs, has been extensively evaluated, there are only few reports concerning the identification of tick-borne agents in Brazilian free-ranging and captive wild carnivores. The molecular detection of E. chaffeensis in Brazilian marsh deer (Blastocerus dichotomus) (Machado et al., 2006) raised the importance of investigating wildlife reservoirs for tick-borne zoonotic agents. Antibodies to Ehrlichia spp. have been detected in free-ranging (Filoni et al., 2006) and captive neotropical felids (André et al., 2010, Filoni et al., 2012). In addition, Ehrlichia spp. DNA has been detected in 5 Brazilian wild felid species (André et al., 2010, Widmer et al., 2011).
In a previous molecular survey, we found 11 (15%) out of 72 neotropical captive wild felids contained Ehrlichia spp. DNA in blood (André et al., 2010). Six of the 7 existing species of Brazilian wild felids, including ocelots (Leopardus pardalis), little spotted cats (Leopardus tigrinus), margays (Leopardus wiedii), pampas cats (Oncifelis colocolo), jaguars (Panthera onca), and pumas (Puma concolor), and 2 of the 4 existing species of Brazilian wild canids, namely bush dogs (Speothos venaticus) and maned wolves (Chrysocyon brachyurus) are endangered (www.ibama.gov.br). Thus, we aimed to detect and characterize, using molecular techniques, the presence of tick-borne pathogens in additional neotropical and exotic wild felids and canids maintained in captivity in various locations throughout Brazil.
Section snippets
Materials and methods
Five mL of blood was collected from each of 76 Brazilian wild captive felids, 23 exotic captive felids, 3 captive European wolves (Canis lupus), and 97 Brazilian wild canids maintained in zoos located in São Paulo and Mato Grosso states (Table 1). All samples were collected under the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources license numbers #S02027.002943/2005 and #15901-1. Animals were immobilized with a mixture of ketamine (Francotar®, Virbac, Carros Cedex, France) (10
Results
The blood of 10/100 (10%) canids (1 European wolf, 3 bush dogs, and 6 crab-eating foxes) and 21/99 (21%) felids (4 pumas, 6 little spotted cats, 4 ocelots, 3 jaguarundis, 1 tiger, and 3 lions) contained fragments of 16S rRNA gene of Ehrlichia spp. Fifteen wild carnivores (11 felids and 4 canids) contained ehrlichial DNA closely related to E. chaffeensis by BLAST analysis (Table 2). In addition, 16 of the wild carnivores (10 felids and 6 canids) also contained ehrlichial DNA closely related to
Discussion
Carnivores play a role as sentinels for vector-borne pathogens because they can act as hosts for both bacteria and arthropod vectors, and because they have more widely distributed activity than tick hosts (Foley et al., 1999). The identification of vector-borne agents infecting wild carnivores could help to establish vector-borne disease risk areas for humans and animals. Also, with regard to wild carnivore conservation, monitoring these infections is important for the management of endangered
Conflict of interest
None declared.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) for the scholarship (number #07/59889-6) and financial support (number #08/55570-8), and CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior) for sandwich-scholarship (#1483-10-2); Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis (IBAMA) for the concession of licences (numbers #S02027.002943/2005 and #15901-1) for collecting and packaging blood samples from wild
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