Biogeography of Leptospira in wild animal communities inhabiting the insular ecosystem of the western Indian Ocean islands and neighboring Africa article
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Date
Authors
Dietrich, Muriel
Gomard, Yann
Lagadec, Erwan
Ramasindrazana, Beza
Le Minter, Gildas
Guernier, Vanina
Benlali, Aude
Rocamora, Gerard
Markotter, Wanda
Goodman, Steven M.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
Abstract
Understanding the processes driving parasite assemblages is particularly important in the context of zoonotic
infectious diseases. Leptospirosis is a widespread zoonotic bacterial infection caused by pathogenic species of the
genus Leptospira. Despite a wide range of animal hosts, information is still lacking on the factors shaping Leptospira
diversity in wild animal communities, especially in regions, such as tropical insular ecosystems, with high host species
richness and complex biogeographical patterns. Using a large dataset (34 mammal species) and a multilocus approach
at a regional scale, we analyzed the role of both host species diversity and geography in Leptospira genetic diversity in
terrestrial small mammals (rodents, tenrecs, and shrews) and bats from 10 different islands/countries in the western
Indian Ocean (WIO) and neighboring Africa. At least four Leptospira spp. (L. interrogans, L. borgpetersenii, L. kirschneri,
and L. mayottensis) and several yet-unidentified genetic clades contributed to a remarkable regional Leptospira
diversity, which was generally related to the local occurrence of the host species rather than the geography. In
addition, the genetic structure patterns varied between Leptospira spp., suggesting different evolutionary histories in
the region, which might reflect both in situ diversification of native mammals (for L. borgpetersenii) and the more
recent introduction of non-native host species (for L. interrogans). Our data also suggested that host shifts occurred
between bats and rodents, but further investigations are needed to determine how host ecology may influence these
events.
Description
Keywords
Leptospirosis, Infection, Pathogenic species, Western Indian Ocean (WIO), Mammals, History, Comoros, Biodiversity, Bats, Humans, Transmission, Madagascar, Reunion Island, Pathogenic Leptospira
Sustainable Development Goals
Citation
Dietrich, M., Gomard, Y., Lagadec, E. et al. 2018, 'Biogeography of Leptospira in wild animal communities inhabiting the insular ecosystem of the western Indian Ocean islands and neighboring Africa article', Emerging Microbes & Infections, vol. 7, art. no. 57, pp. 1-12.