RESUMO
Leptospirosis is an under-reported and emerging zoonotic disease which is potentially fatal in humans. Rodents are the main reservoirs for pathogenic Leptospira spp., but diagnosis in these animals is difficult, and their infection, which does not induce symptoms, usually goes unoticed. Although the exposures of most human cases of leptospirosis are poorly documented, we were able to identify six human cases of leptospirosis which were associated with direct contact with pet rodents (mice or rats) in Belgium and France between 2009 and 2016. All cases had severe disease and for all, the presence of Leptospira spp. DNA in the kidneys of their pet animals was confirmed, strongly suggesting that excretion of leptospires in urine was the way of transmission. Half of the cases shared the serogroup Icterohaemorrhagiae, which is usually associated with severe disease, with the pet rats which they were in contact with. With the popularity of rats and mice as pets, this study should contribute to raising awareness on asymptomatic pet rodents as a source of Leptospira infections.
Assuntos
Leptospira/genética , Leptospirose/microbiologia , Animais de Estimação , Doenças dos Roedores/microbiologia , Roedores/microbiologia , Adulto , Animais , Bélgica/epidemiologia , Ensaio de Imunoadsorção Enzimática , Feminino , França/epidemiologia , Genótipo , Técnicas de Genotipagem , Humanos , Leptospira/classificação , Leptospira/isolamento & purificação , Leptospirose/sangue , Leptospirose/diagnóstico , Leptospirose/epidemiologia , Masculino , Notificação de Abuso , Camundongos , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Ratos , Estudos Retrospectivos , Doenças dos Roedores/urina , Sorogrupo , Sorotipagem , Zoonoses/diagnósticoRESUMO
Blastocystis sp. is a common eukaryotic parasite, which infects humans as well as various other animals. To date, epidemiological data regarding the detection rate and distribution of Blastocystis sp. subtypes in pet rodents are lacking in China; the present study aims to fill this gap. A total of 503 fecal samples collected from pets in different locations in southwestern China were screened for the presence of Blastocystis sp. using a nested PCR amplification of SSU rRNA method. Forty-two samples (8.35%) tested positive for Blastocystis sp. colonization. Two subtypes of Blastocystis sp. were identified based on nucleotide sequence homology and phylogenetic analysis: Blastocystis ST4 was present in 41 samples, and Blastocystis ST17 was found in 1 sample. Our results revealed robust host preference of Blastocystis ST4 and confirmed that Blastocystis ST17 can also parasitize rodents.