Transmission of Bartonella henselae within Rhipicephalus sanguineus: Data on the Potential Vector Role of the Tick

[Sproetje]

Uit: PLOS NECLECTED TROPICAL DISEASES

Transmission of Bartonella henselae within Rhipicephalus sanguineus: Data on the Potential Vector Role of the Tick

Wittawat Wechtaisong,Sarah I. Bonnet,Yi-Yang Lien,Shih-Te Chuang,Yi-Lun Tsai

Version 2
Published: October 1, 2020
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008664

https://journals.plos.org/plosntds/arti ... td.0008664

Abstract
Bartonella henselae is a fastidious intraerythrocytic, gram-negative bacteria that causes cat scratch disease in humans. Ixodes ricinus has been confirmed to be a competent vector of B. henselae, and some indirect evidences from clinical cases and epidemiological studies also suggested that some other tick species, including Rhipicephalus sanguineus, may transmit the bacteria. B. henselae has been detected in R. sanguineus but no experimental investigations have been performed to evaluate the vector competency of this tick species regarding B. henselae transmission. To this end, this work aimed to assess the transstadial transmission of B. henselae between larvae and nymphs of R. sanguineus as well as transmission by nymphs infected at the larval stage. Four hundred B. henselae negative larvae were fed with B. henselae-infected blood by using an artificial membrane feeding system. After five days of feeding, B. henselae was detected by PCR in 57.1% (8/14) of engorged larval pools, 66.7% (4/6) of semi-engorged larval pools, and 66.7% (2/3) of larval feces pools. After molting, B. henselae DNA was also detected in 10% (1/10) of nymph pools, but not in tick feces. After a pre-fed step of nymphs infected at the larval stage on non-infected blood meal, B. henselae was detected by PCR in blood sample from the feeder, but no Bartonella colonies could be obtained from culture. These findings showed that B. henselae could be transstadial transmitted from R. sanguineus larvae to nymphs, and also suggest that these nymphs may retransmitted the bacteria through the saliva during their blood meal. This is the first study that validated the artificial membrane feeding system for maintaining R. sanguineus tick colony. It shows the possibility of transstadial transmission of B. henselae from R. sanguineus larvae to nymphs.
[.....]
Because of evidence of R. sanguineus harboring and potentially transmitting Bartonella spp. and limited information on Bartonella transmission by ticks, we performed the present experimental study to investigate the possibility of B. henselae transmission by R. sanguineus using an artificial membrane feeding system. This feeding technique can mimic the natural conditions of tick infection via the digestive tract in controlled condition as validated for I. ricinus with both tick-borne bacteria and parasites and, until now, was never applied to R. sanguineus feeding or infection studies [35, 36, 40–42].
[.....]

European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control:
Rhipicephalus sanguineus - current known distribution: May 2020

https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publicati ... n-may-2020

R. sanguineus komt voor in Noord Duitsland, maar in Nederland is het nog niet onderzocht.

[Sproetje]

Moet mezelf verbeteren;
Ik schreef nl dat Nederland het nog niet zou hebben onderzocht, maar er staat letterlijk: " Unknown"
Vond een vrij oud Nederlands onderzoek over deze teek waarin geschreven staat, dat Rhipicephalus sanguineus ws ook in Nederland voorkomt:

The brown dog tick Rhipicephalus sanguineus Latreille 1806 in the Netherlands, an analysis of imported cases, including their veterinary and medical significance

https://eurekamag.com/research/044/568/044568669.php

Eighteen cases of infestation with Rhipicephalus sanguineus were reported during the past five years. Of the cases, six were observed during the first seven months of 1979. Of all infestations, four originated from sources within the territory of the Netherlands. Several cases of infestation with canine babesiosis were reported. There could have been a relationship between some of these cases and infestation with R. sanguineus. Populations of this tick can survive and develop in Dutch homes. Forming reservoirs of boutonneuse fever and canine babesiosis would appear to be possible.

Of ie op mensen gaat zitten, dit onderzoek zegt van wel:

https://folia.paru.cas.cz/artkey/fol-20 ... _sever.php

[Henriëtte]

Financiering van Bartonella-onderzoekconsortium voor het ontwikkelen van betere behandeling;

Belangrijke onderzoekers van infectieziekten aan de Tulane universiteit, de Duke universiteit en de North Carolina State universiteit in de VS, gaan samenwerken om een ​​behandeling te ontwikkelen voor bartonellose, een ziekte die ernstige symptomen kan veroorzaken en die wordt overgedragen door vectoren (dat zijn organismen, meestal insecten, die een infectie van het ene dier of mens overdragen op een ander). Het vierjarige initiatief wordt gefinancierd door de Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation en zal vorm krijgen in een Bartonella-onderzoekconsortium.

Hoogleraar Monica Embers, een microbioloog en immunoloog bij het Tulane National Primate onderzoekscentrum, richt zich op de persistentie ondanks antibioticabehandeling van door teken overgedragen infectieziekten en zal haar expertise inbrengen in het consortium.

https://lymevereniging.nl/betere-behand ... artonella/

Henriëtte

[Sproetje]

Ben blij dat er naar betere behandeling wordt gezocht.

Transmissie via teken was moeilijk aantoonbaar, en er werd al snel gezegd dat ixodes ricinus geen Bartonella zou kunnen overbrengen op de mens, zoals bv deze:

Transmission of Bartonella henselae by Ixodes ricinus
2008
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2600320/

Een aantal onderzoeken verder:


PLOS NEGLECTED TROPICAL DISEASES

Caroline Reis,Martine Cote,Danielle Le Rhun,Benoit Lecuelle,Michael L. Levin,Muriel Vayssier-Taussat,Sarah I. Bonnet

https://journals.plos.org/plosntds/arti ... td.0001186

2011

Because of biosafety concerns associated with tick feeding upon cats infected with B. henselae, we decided to use a mouse model of B. birtlesii infection that has been studied in our laboratories for several years. The B. birtlesii strain used in this study was a low passage isolates from a field mouse Apodemus sp. [12]. Using this model, we showed that I. ricinus larvae and nymphs placed on an infected animal at the peak of bacteremia were able to acquire B. birtlesii from the host. Nymphs, infected at the larval stage, were able to inject B. birtlesii into mice, which in turn became bacteremic. Judging by the results of blood-PCR, the recipient mice developed bacteremia within seven days after placement of Bartonella-infected ticks and remained bacteremic at least until day 16. This timetable is comparable with those observed when mice were needle-inoculated with the same pathogen [13], [14], [27], [28]. Notably, we have re-isolated B. birtlesii from the liver of tick-infected mice, which confirms colonization of that organ by the pathogen observed earlier using needle-inoculation (unpublished data - MVT; [29]).

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Together, results of this study demonstrate that both larval and nymphal I. ricinus are capable of acquiring B. birtlesii from an infected host, transmitting it through the molt to the next life stage, maintaining the infection for several months of starvation, and ejecting it with saliva during the subsequent feeding. Using a murine model, we show for the first time the ability of the erythrocyte-associated bacterium to survive and disseminate in a tick vector, where it escapes from the midgut into the hemocoel and infects salivary and muscle tissues.

This work represents the first in vivo demonstration of a Bartonella sp. transmission by ticks. It does not claim that ticks are principal vectors of Bartonella spp, but it does corroborate a prospect that ticks play a role in the natural cycles of some of the bartonellae including those pathogenic for humans. Consequently, bartonelloses should be included in the differential diagnosis for patients exposed to tick bites.