Navea-Pérez H M, Díaz-Sáez V, Corpas-López V, Merino-Espinosa G, Morillas-Márquez F, Martín-Sánchez J
Departamento de Parasitología, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Granada, 18071, Granada, Spain.
Parasitol Res. 2015 Jun;114(6):2363-70. doi: 10.1007/s00436-015-4434-y. Epub 2015 Mar 24.
Wild rodents constitute a very large biomass of potential reservoirs for Leishmania spp. Therefore, an epidemiological study was carried out in a well-known focus of canine leishmaniasis from southern Spain, with the objective of detecting and characterizing Leishmania infantum infection in wild rodents. Blood, liver, spleen, bone marrow, and skin from 37 rodents (24 Apodemus sylvaticus, 9 Rattus rattus, and 4 Mus musculus) were analyzed by optical microscopy, culture, and two different polymerase chain reactions. L. infantum DNA was found in 27% (10 out of 37) of the trapped rodents, in a variety of tissues: bone marrow, spleen, or healthy skin (ear lobe). High prevalences of L. infantum infection were found in the three investigated rodent species. The presence of other trypanosomatids was also evidenced. These rodent species are abundant, widely distributed in Europe, and have a long enough lifespan to overcome the low sandfly activity season. They live in a suitable habitat for sandflies and serve as blood sources for these insects, which can become infected when induced to feed on Leishmania-infected animals. Whether they are reservoirs or just irrelevant incidental hosts, it is clear that the epidemiology of L. infantum is more complex than previously thought, and so is its control. The classic epidemiological cycle dog-sandfly-human is turning into a network of animal species that collaborate with the dog in the maintenance of the parasite under natural conditions and probably showing local differences.
野生啮齿动物构成了利什曼原虫属潜在宿主的巨大生物量。因此，在西班牙南部一个著名的犬利什曼病疫源地开展了一项流行病学研究，目的是检测和鉴定野生啮齿动物中的婴儿利什曼原虫感染情况。对37只啮齿动物（24只森林姬鼠、9只黑家鼠和4只小家鼠）的血液、肝脏、脾脏、骨髓和皮肤进行了光学显微镜检查、培养以及两种不同的聚合酶链反应分析。在捕获的啮齿动物中，27%（37只中的10只）在多种组织（骨髓、脾脏或健康皮肤[耳垂]）中检测到婴儿利什曼原虫DNA。在所调查的三种啮齿动物物种中均发现了高感染率的婴儿利什曼原虫。还证实存在其他锥虫。这些啮齿动物物种数量众多，广泛分布于欧洲，并且具有足够长的寿命来度过白蛉活动较低的季节。它们生活在适合白蛉生存的栖息地，是这些昆虫的血液来源，当被诱导叮咬感染利什曼原虫的动物时，白蛉可能会被感染。无论它们是宿主还是无关的偶然宿主，显然婴儿利什曼原虫的流行病学比以前认为的更为复杂，其控制也是如此。经典的犬 - 白蛉 - 人流行病学循环正在转变为一个动物物种网络，这些物种在自然条件下与犬共同维持寄生虫的传播，并且可能存在局部差异。
