Bartonella species and haplotypes in rodents and their fleas in Lanzarote and El Hierro in the Canary Islands, Spain

ABSTRACTBecause isolated ecosystems contribute to species variability, especially oceanic island ecosystems, the present work focused on the study of theBartonella species and haplotypes in Lanzarote and El Hierro, two Canary islands with evident bioclimatic differences between them. A total of 123 rodents and 110 fleas from two islands were screened for the presence ofBartonella by PCR analysis of thegltA andnuoG genes. The overall prevalence was 5.7% in rodents and 20.4% in fleas. A total of sevengltA ‐haplotypes was found in both rodents and fleas, belonging to the speciesBartonella mastomydis andBartonella tribocorum in Lanzarote, and toBartonella rochalimae andBartonella elizabethae in El Hierro, as well as recently described speciesBartonella kosoyi in both islands. Besides, potential co ‐infections were detected based on thenuoG analysis. Further,Xenopsylla cheopis was the only flea species identified. Our study shows that isolated ecosystems such as the Canary Islands lead to the appearance of newBartonella haplotypes along different biotopes, with diverse flea species involved in the spreading of the pathogen being of great relevance due to the zoonotic potential of the species found.
Source: Journal of Vector Ecology - Category: Biology Authors: Tags: Original Article Source Type: research