Spatio-temporal survey of small mammal-borne Trypanosoma lewisi in Cotonou, Benin, and the potential risk of human infection

Gauthier Dobigny (), Philippe Gauthier (), Gualbert Houéménou, Henri-Joël Dossou, Sylvestre Badou (), Jonas Etougbétché (), Caroline Tatard () and Philippe Truc
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Gauthier Dobigny: UMR CBGP - Centre de Biologie pour la Gestion des Populations - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - Montpellier SupAgro - Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques - UM - Université de Montpellier - IRD [Occitanie] - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier, EPAC - Ecole Polytechnique d'Abomey Calavi - UAC - Université d’Abomey-Calavi = University of Abomey Calavi
Philippe Gauthier: UMR CBGP - Centre de Biologie pour la Gestion des Populations - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - Montpellier SupAgro - Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques - UM - Université de Montpellier - IRD [Occitanie] - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier
Gualbert Houéménou: EPAC - Ecole Polytechnique d'Abomey Calavi - UAC - Université d’Abomey-Calavi = University of Abomey Calavi
Henri-Joël Dossou: EPAC - Ecole Polytechnique d'Abomey Calavi - UAC - Université d’Abomey-Calavi = University of Abomey Calavi
Sylvestre Badou: EPAC - Ecole Polytechnique d'Abomey Calavi - UAC - Université d’Abomey-Calavi = University of Abomey Calavi
Jonas Etougbétché: EPAC - Ecole Polytechnique d'Abomey Calavi - UAC - Université d’Abomey-Calavi = University of Abomey Calavi
Caroline Tatard: UMR CBGP - Centre de Biologie pour la Gestion des Populations - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - Montpellier SupAgro - Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques - UM - Université de Montpellier - IRD [Occitanie] - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier
Philippe Truc: UMR INTERTRYP - Interactions hôtes-vecteurs-parasites-environnement dans les maladies tropicales négligées dues aux trypanosomatides - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - UCBL - Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 - Université de Lyon - UB - Université de Bordeaux

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Abstract: Highlights: • A Trypanosoma survey was conducted in 369 small mammals from districts of Cotonou, Benin, during three successive seasons. • Sequencing data allowed us to unambiguously identify Trypanosoma lewisi in 144 parasitized animals. • Prevalences range between 39.2% (qPCR only) and 57.2% (individuals for which sequences were obtained). • Trypanosomes were identified in all but one mammalian species; Rattus rattus was more infected than the other hosts. • No difference in prevalence was found neither between seasons nor districts. • Our data and local socio-environmental conditions suggest a high risk of trypanosomes spill-over from rodents to human. Abstract: Human trypanosomoses are the sleeping sickness in Africa and Chagas disease in Latin America. However, atypical human infections by animal trypanosomes have been described, but poorly investigated. Among them, the supposed rat-specific T. lewisi was shown to be responsible for a few severe cases. In Africa, the scarcity of data and the null awareness about the atypical human trypanosomoses suggest that the number of cases may be higher that currently thought. Furthermore, T. lewisi is resistant to normal human serum and therefore a po-tential human pathogen. In order to document T. lewisi distribution and ecology, a qPCR- and 16DNA sequen-cing-based survey was conducted in 369 rodents from three urban districts of Cotonou city, Benin, during three different periods of the same year. Our study demonstrated very high prevalence (57.2%) even when considering only individuals identified as positive through DNA sequencing (39.2%). Black rats represented the most dominant as well as the most T. lewisi-parasitized species. No diffrence was retrieved neither between seasons nor districts, suggesting a large infestation of rodents by trypanosomes throughout the year and the city. Our results suggest that conditions are gathered for rat to human transmission of T. lewisi in these socio-en-vironmentally degraded urban areas, thus pointing towards the rapidly urbanizing Abidjan-Lagos corridor as a region at particular risk.

Keywords: Trypanosoma lewisi; Urbanization; Environmental health; Emerging disease; Invasive species; Rodent-borne zoonosis; Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019-11
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-02438166v1
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Published in Infection, Genetics and Evolution, 2019, MEEGID XIV, 75, pp.103967. ⟨10.1016/j.meegid.2019.103967⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02438166

DOI: 10.1016/j.meegid.2019.103967

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