Pathogen Detection in Ornithodoros sonrai Ticks and Invasive House Mice Mus musculus domesticus in Senegal

Basma Ouarti (1) , Moussa Sall (2) , El Hadji Ibrahima Ndiaye (1, 3) , Adama Zan Diarra (1, 3) , Jean Michel Berenger (1, 3) , Cheikh Sokhna (3, 1) , Laurent Granjon (4) , Jean Le Fur (4) , Philippe Parola (1, 3)

1 VITROME - Vecteurs - Infections tropicales et méditerranéennes
2 ISRA - Institut Sénégalais de Recherches Agricoles [Dakar]
3 IHU Marseille - Institut Hospitalier Universitaire Méditerranée Infection
4 Institut Agro Montpellier

Ornithodoros sonrai (O. sonrai) ticks are the only known vectors of Borrelia crocidurae, an agent of tick-borne relapsing fever (TBRF) borreliosis. Rodents serve as principal natural reservoirs for Borrelia. Our research objective was to detect TBRF Borrelia and other zoonotic bacterial infections in ticks and in house mice Mus musculus domesticus, an invasive species currently expanding in rural northern Senegal. Real-time and conventional PCR were utilized for detecting Borrelia and other bacterial taxa. The analyses were performed on 253 specimens of O. sonrai and 150 samples of brain and spleen tissue from rodents. Borrelia crocidurae was found in one O. sonrai tick and 18 Mus musculus domesticus samples, with prevalences of 0.39 percent and 12 percent, respectively, as well as Ehrlichia sp. in one Mus musculus domesticus. Further, we were able to detect the presence of a potentially infectious novel species belonging to the Anaplasmataceae family for the first time in O. sonrai ticks. More attention should be paid to the house mouse and O. sonrai ticks, as they can be potential hosts for novel species of pathogenic bacteria in humans.

Mots clés: Borrelia crocidurae; Ornithodoros sonrai; Mus musculus domesticus; Anaplasmataceae; Senegal

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]

Basma Ouarti, Moussa Sall, El Hadji Ibrahima Ndiaye, Adama Zan Diarra, Jean Michel Berenger, et al.. Pathogen Detection in Ornithodoros sonrai Ticks and Invasive House Mice Mus musculus domesticus in Senegal. Microorganisms, 2022, 10 (12), pp.2367. ⟨10.3390/microorganisms10122367⟩. ⟨hal-03985817⟩