Diversidade de carrapatos e pesquisa de agentes infecciosos transmitidos por artrópodes em pequenos mamíferos silvestres do estado de Mato Grosso, Brasil

Abstract

Small mammals and their ectoparasites participate in the transmission chain of different pathogens, being able to play the role of reservoirs and vectors of diseases. In this context, ticks and tissue samples (blood, spleen, liver and lung) from small mammals from eleven different municipalities in the State of Mato Grosso, Brazil, were subjected to DNA extraction and, later, to the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) in order to amplify a fragment of DNA from bacteria of the genus Bartonella spp. and Coxiella sp., protozoa of the genera Hepatozoon and Order Piroplasmorida (genera Babesia and Theileria). In addition, ticks collected from small land mammals were subjected to molecular detection of Rickettsia spp. In total, only 5.7, 5.34 and 0.63% of the samples were positive for Bartonella spp., Babesia spp. and Hepatozoon spp., respectively, in small mammals. A total of 72 ticks were identified and DNA from Rickettsia amblyommatis and Rickettsia bellii were detected in Amblyomma auricularium. We report for the first time in Mato Grosso: i. Bartonella spp. in bats Lophostoma silvicolum, Myotis nigricans, Phyllostomus elongatus and Pteronotus rubiginosus, in addition to a possible new genotype of Bartonella spp. in L. silvicolum; ii. Neacomys amoenus infected with Hepatozoon sp.; iii. different morphotype of Ornithodoros guaporensis; iv. occurrence of argasid O. guaporensis in the Cerrado biome; v. nymphs of Amblyomma cajennense sensu stricto and A. auricularium parasitizing rodents Thrichomys pachyurus. Therefore, important pathogens circulate in small wild mammals in the State of Mato Grosso also in ticks, with some species being described as hosts by this study.