Huggins Lucas G, Namgyel Ugyen, Wangchuk Pelden, Atapattu Ushani, Traub Rebecca, Colella Vito
Melbourne Veterinary School, Faculty of Science, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3050, Australia.
National Centre for Animal Health, Serbithang, Thimphu 11001, Bhutan.
One Health. 2024 Jun 14;19:100839. doi: 10.1016/j.onehlt.2024.100839. eCollection 2024 Dec.
The diversity and prevalence of canine vector-borne pathogens (VBPs) in Bhutan have to date remained unexplored, whilst recent epidemiological surveys in other South Asian nations have found diseases caused by VBPs to be rife in local dog populations. Importantly, many of such VBPs can infect people as well, with a building body of evidence identifying potentially zoonotic rickettsial organisms infecting humans in Bhutan. Given the lack of data on canine pathogens in Bhutan we employed a suite of deep-sequencing metabarcoding methods using Oxford Nanopore Technologies' MinION™ device to holistically characterise the bacterial, apicomplexan and filarial worm blood-borne pathogens of dogs in the country's south. Of the 95 stray, owned and community dogs sampled 78% (95% CI = 69%-85%) were infected with at least one VBP. Pathogen species detected were highly diverse including the bacteria in 16% (95% CI: 10-24%), in 4% (95% CI: 2-10%), in 2% (95% CI: 0.5-7%) of dogs as well as the zoonotic species in 1% (95% CI: 0.1-6%), a potentially novel spp. and an -like bacterium, both in 1% (95% CI: 0.1-6%) of dogs. The apicomplexan haemoparasites in 62% (95% CI: 52-71%), in 45% (95% CI: 36-55%) and in 3% (95% CI: 1-9%) of dogs were also detected. Finally, 5% (95% CI: 2-12%) of dogs were found to be infected with the filarioid and 1% (95% CI: 0.1-6%) with zoonotic sp. hongkongensis. One canine was found positive to the filarioid , a species normally found infecting cervids. The elucidated diversity of VBP communities highlights the strength of assumption-free diagnostics, such as metabarcoding, in detecting rare, novel, and unexpected pathogens. This approach to identifying pathogen diversity is of critical importance when investigating regions and populations that have thus far been neglected, with the findings aiding the development of future One Health informed strategies for disease control.
不丹犬类媒介传播病原体（VBP）的多样性和流行情况至今仍未得到探索，而最近在其他南亚国家进行的流行病学调查发现，VBP引起的疾病在当地犬类种群中很普遍。重要的是，许多此类VBP也能感染人类，越来越多的证据表明不丹存在感染人类的潜在人畜共患立克次氏体微生物。鉴于不丹缺乏犬类病原体的数据，我们使用牛津纳米孔技术公司的MinION™ 设备，采用了一套深度测序元条形码方法，全面表征了该国南部犬类的细菌、顶复门原虫和丝虫血源性病原体。在采样的95只流浪犬、家养犬和社区犬中，78%（95%置信区间=69%-85%）至少感染了一种VBP。检测到的病原体种类高度多样，包括16%（95%置信区间：10%-24%）的犬感染了细菌 ，4%（95%置信区间：2%-10%）的犬感染了 ，2%（95%置信区间：0.5%-7%）的犬感染了 ，以及1%（95%置信区间：0.1%-6%）的犬感染了人畜共患病原体 ，1%（95%置信区间：0.1%-6%）的犬感染了一种潜在的新型 属细菌和一种类 细菌。还检测到62%（95%置信区间：52%-71%）的犬感染了顶复门血寄生虫 ，45%（95%置信区间：36%-55%）的犬感染了 ，3%（95%置信区间：1%-9%）的犬感染了 。最后，发现5%（95%置信区间：2%-12%）的犬感染了类丝虫 ，1%（95%置信区间：0.1%-6%）的犬感染了人畜共患的 种香港种。发现一只犬对类丝虫 呈阳性，该物种通常感染鹿类。阐明的VBP群落多样性突出了无假设诊断方法（如元条形码技术）在检测罕见、新型和意外病原体方面的优势。在调查迄今被忽视的地区和种群时，这种识别病原体多样性的方法至关重要，其结果有助于制定未来基于“同一健康”理念的疾病控制策略。
