Korean J Parasitol.
2018 Oct;56(5):521-525. 10.3347/kjp.2018.56.5.521.
Survey and Phylogenetic Analysis of Rodents and Important Rodent-Borne Zoonotic Pathogens in Gedu, Bhutan
- Affiliations
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- 1One Health Epidemiology Fellowship Program, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand. vetyoen@gmail.com
- 2Entomology Department, Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS), Bangkok, Thailand.
- 3National Centre for Animal Health, Department of Livestock, Ministry of Agriculture and Forests, Serbithang, Bhutan.
- 4Khesar Gyalpo University of Medical Sciences of Bhutan, Thimphu, Bhutan.
- 5MorVet Ltd, Consultancy Services in Health Risk Management and Food Safety Policy, Masterton, New Zealand.
- 6International Development Group, School of Veterinary Science, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand.
- KMID: 2426759
- DOI: http://doi.org/10.3347/kjp.2018.56.5.521
Abstract
- Rodents are well-known reservoirs and vectors of many emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, but little is known about their role in zoonotic disease transmission in Bhutan. In this study, a cross-sectional investigation of zoonotic disease pathogens in rodents was performed in Chukha district, Bhutan, where a high incidence of scrub typhus and cases of acute undifferentiated febrile illness had been reported in people during the preceding 4-6 months. Twelve rodents were trapped alive using wire-mesh traps. Following euthanasia, liver and kidney tissues were removed and tested using PCR for Orientia tsutsugamushi and other bacterial and rickettsial pathogens causing bartonellosis, borreliosis, human monocytic ehrlichiosis, human granulocytic anaplasmosis, leptospirosis, and rickettsiosis. A phylogenetic analysis was performed on all rodent species captured and pathogens detected. Four out of the 12 rodents (33.3%) tested positive by PCR for zoonotic pathogens. Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Bartonella grahamii, and B. queenslandensis were identified for the first time in Bhutan. Leptospira interrogans was also detected for the first time from rodents in Bhutan. The findings demonstrate the presence of these zoonotic pathogens in rodents in Bhutan, which may pose a risk of disease transmission to humans.
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