Identification of Tenrec ecaudatus, a wild mammal Introduced to Mayotte Island, as a reservoir of the newly identified human pathogenic Leptospira mayottensis
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Authors
Lagadec, Erwan
Gomard, Yann
Le Minter, Gildas
Cordonin, Colette
Cardinale, Eric
Ramasindrazana, Beza
Dietrich, Muriel
Goodman, Steven M.
Tortosa, Pablo
Dellagi, Koussay
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Public Library of Science
Abstract
Leptospirosis is a bacterial zoonosis of major concern on tropical islands. Human populations
on western Indian Ocean islands are strongly affected by the disease although each
archipelago shows contrasting epidemiology. For instance, Mayotte, part of the Comoros
Archipelago, differs from the other neighbouring islands by a high diversity of Leptospira
species infecting humans that includes Leptospira mayottensis, a species thought to be
unique to this island. Using bacterial culture, molecular detection and typing, the present
study explored the wild and domestic local mammalian fauna for renal carriage of leptospires
and addressed the genetic relationships of the infecting strains with local isolates
obtained from acute human cases and with Leptospira strains hosted by mammal species
endemic to nearby Madagascar. Tenrec (Tenrec ecaudatus, Family Tenrecidae), a terrestrial
mammal introduced from Madagascar, is identified as a reservoir of L. mayottensis. All
isolated L. mayottensis sequence types form a monophyletic clade that includes Leptospira
strains infecting humans and tenrecs on Mayotte, as well as two other Malagasy endemic
tenrecid species of the genus Microgale. The lower diversity of L. mayottensis in tenrecs
from Mayotte, compared to that occurring in Madagascar, suggests that L. mayottensis has
indeed a Malagasy origin. This study also showed that introduced rats (Rattus rattus) and
dogs are probably the main reservoirs of Leptospira borgpetersenii and Leptospira kirschneri,
both bacteria being prevalent in local clinical cases. Data emphasize the epidemiological
link between the two neighbouring islands and the role of introduced small mammals in
shaping the local epidemiology of leptospirosis.
Description
S1 Fig. Distribution of small mammals sampling sites on Mayotte. Numbers correspond to
the 18 sampling sites where Rattus rattus and Tenrec ecaudatus (white) and bats (orange) were
trapped. Map was created with QGIS 2.8.1 (QGIS Development Team, 2016, QGIS Geographic
Information System, Open Source Geospatial Foundation Project). Photography of Mayotte:
BD Topo IGN, 2008.
S2 Fig. The figures A and B display Bayesian phylogenetic trees of pathogenic Leptospira from Mayotte (blue) and Madagascar (green) based on 452 bp (57 taxa, HKY+I+G) (A) and 245 bp (64 taxa, K80+I) (B) of the rrs2 gene. At the nodes, the black numbers indicate posterior probabilities. The sequences highlighted in grey (A) and red (B) represent PCR positive samples for which only the rrs2 gene was obtained. Strain numbers of cultures produced herein are indicated in parentheses, “K” and “U” designating sequences obtained from kidney or urine, respectively. Specimen system: MDI and MAY = CRVOI specimen catalogue during field trips to Mayotte; all Canis lupus familiaris were sampled during field trips to Mayotte; FMNH = Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago; UADBA = Université d’Antananarivo, Département de Biologie Animale, Madagascar; for the other bacterial sequences from Homo sapiens and Microgale spp. see Bourhy et al. 2012 [15]and Dietrich et al. 2014 [4]. Museum numbers for Microgale spp.: 575 = UADBA 30869; 588 = UADBA 30289; 590 = UADBA 30291; 1335 = UADBA 32122; 1453 = UADBA 32125; 1467 = UADBA 32101.
S2 Fig. The figures A and B display Bayesian phylogenetic trees of pathogenic Leptospira from Mayotte (blue) and Madagascar (green) based on 452 bp (57 taxa, HKY+I+G) (A) and 245 bp (64 taxa, K80+I) (B) of the rrs2 gene. At the nodes, the black numbers indicate posterior probabilities. The sequences highlighted in grey (A) and red (B) represent PCR positive samples for which only the rrs2 gene was obtained. Strain numbers of cultures produced herein are indicated in parentheses, “K” and “U” designating sequences obtained from kidney or urine, respectively. Specimen system: MDI and MAY = CRVOI specimen catalogue during field trips to Mayotte; all Canis lupus familiaris were sampled during field trips to Mayotte; FMNH = Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago; UADBA = Université d’Antananarivo, Département de Biologie Animale, Madagascar; for the other bacterial sequences from Homo sapiens and Microgale spp. see Bourhy et al. 2012 [15]and Dietrich et al. 2014 [4]. Museum numbers for Microgale spp.: 575 = UADBA 30869; 588 = UADBA 30289; 590 = UADBA 30291; 1335 = UADBA 32122; 1453 = UADBA 32125; 1467 = UADBA 32101.
Keywords
Leptospirosis, Tropical islands, Humans, Madagascar
Sustainable Development Goals
Citation
Lagadec E, Gomard Y, Le Minter G,
Cordonin C, Cardinale E, Ramasindrazana B, et al.
(2016) Identification of Tenrec ecaudatus, a Wild
Mammal Introduced to Mayotte Island, as a Reservoir
of the Newly Identified Human Pathogenic Leptospira
mayottensis. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 10(8): e0004933. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0004933.