Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva e Saúde Animal, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Centro Nacional de Pesquisa e Conservação de Mamíferos Carnívoros, Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade, Ministério do Meio Ambiente, Atibaia, SP, Brazil.
Ticks Tick Borne Dis. 2021 Mar;12(2):101639. doi: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2020.101639. Epub 2020 Dec 17.
This study evaluated ticks and tick-borne agents in 104 captures of the maned wolf Chrysocyon brachyurus (50 different individuals and 54 recaptures) in the Serra da Canastra National Park (SCNP), a Cerrado preserved area in southeastern Brazil, from 2005 to 2012. From the 104 capture events, a total of 1,206 ticks were collected on 94 occasions (90.4 %), and identified into five species: Amblyomma tigrinum (77.3 % of all collected ticks), Amblyomma sculptum (16.6 %), Amblyomma ovale (0.1 %), Amblyomma brasiliense (0.1 %), Rhipicephalus microplus (0.1 %), and Amblyomma spp. larvae (5.8 %). Molecular analyses of A. tigrinum adult ticks revealed the presence of 'Candidatus Rickettsia andeanae', Rickettsia parkeri sensu stricto, two different haplotypes of 'Ca. Midichloria sp.', and a Hepatozoon canis haplotype. Molecular analyses of maned wolf blood samples revealed two distinct haplotypes of Hepatozoon spp., one identical to the H. canis genotype that was detected in the A. tigrinum ticks, and a Hepatozoon americanum-like haplotype. None tick or blood samples yielded amplicons through PCR assays targeting the genera Ehrlichia, Anaplasma, Babesia, Rangelia, Cytauxzoon, and Theileria. Maned wolf serum samples were tested by immunofluorescence assay against antigens of five Rickettsia species (R. parkeri, R. rickettsii, R. amblyommatis, R. rhipicephali, and R. bellii) and Ehrlichia canis. Among 78 serum samples (45 captures plus 33 recaptures), 74 (95 %) were reactive to at least one Rickettsia species, with R. parkeri eliciting the highest endpoint titers. Some maned wolves that were recaptured during the study were shown to seroconvert to R. parkeri. Serum-reactiveness to E. canis was detected in 36 % (16/45) maned wolves. During the study, general clinical signs of tick-borne diseases were not found in any of the captured animals, indicating that they were under a good health status in the SCNP, despite of been exposed to ticks (mostly A. tigrinum) and some tick-borne agents (Rickettsia, Hepatozoon, Ehrlichia). The results of the present study might represent baseline data for the conservation of the maned wolf in its natural habitat, which should be used to interpret further studies about ticks and tick-borne diseases in maned wolves within human-modified landscapes.
本研究于 2005 年至 2012 年期间，在巴西东南部的塞拉达坎特拉国家公园（SCNP）评估了鬃狼 Chrysocyon brachyurus 的 104 次捕获（50 个不同个体和 54 次重捕）中的蜱和蜱传病原体。在 104 次捕获事件中，总共在 94 次（90.4%）收集到 1206 只蜱虫，并鉴定为五个物种：草原革蜱（所有收集的蜱虫的 77.3%）、纹皮革蜱（16.6%）、卵形革蜱（0.1%）、巴西革蜱（0.1%）、边缘革蜱（0.1%）和扇头蜱幼虫（5.8%）。对草原革蜱成虫进行的分子分析显示存在“候选立克次体和德安纳氏菌”、严格意义上的帕克立克次体、两种不同的“候选密立克次体”单倍型和犬肝孢子虫单倍型。对鬃狼血液样本的分子分析显示，犬肝孢子虫有两个不同的单倍型，一个与在草原革蜱中检测到的犬肝孢子虫基因型相同，另一个与美洲肝孢子虫样单倍型相同。没有蜱虫或血液样本通过针对埃立克体属、无形体属、巴贝西虫属、兰格尔氏体属、细胞内立克次体属和泰勒虫属的 PCR 检测产生扩增子。用免疫荧光分析鬃狼血清对抗五种立克次体物种（帕克立克次体、拉氏立克次体、阿氏立克次体、壁虱立克次体和贝氏立克次体）和犬埃立克体的抗原进行检测。在 78 份血清样本（45 次捕获加 33 次重捕）中，有 74 份（95%）至少对一种立克次体呈反应性，帕克立克次体的效价最高。在研究过程中，一些被重捕的鬃狼被证明对帕克立克次体血清转化。在 36%（16/45）的鬃狼中检测到对犬埃立克体的血清反应性。在研究过程中，没有在任何被捕动物中发现蜱传疾病的一般临床症状，这表明尽管它们暴露于蜱虫（主要是草原革蜱）和一些蜱传病原体（立克次体、肝孢子虫、埃立克体），但它们在 SCNP 中处于良好的健康状态。本研究的结果可能代表鬃狼在其自然栖息地保护的基线数据，应将其用于解释在人为改变的景观中对鬃狼的蜱虫和蜱传疾病的进一步研究。
