Small mammals as potential reservoir hosts of Babesia microti in the Middle Urals

Using PCR and nested PCR methods, 382 blood samples from adult small mammals of 14 species were examined for Babesia microti. The mammals were trapped in the southern taiga of the Middle Urals (Chusovskoi district, Perm Region). The DNA of human babesiosis agent was detected in the blood of 172 smal...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biology bulletin of the Russian Academy of Sciences 2010, Vol.37 (7), p.748-752
Main Authors: Samokhvalov, M. V, Kovalevskii, Yu. V, Korenberg, E. I, Morozov, A. V, Kuzikov, I. V, Sheftel', B. I
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Apodemus uralensis
Araneus
Babesia microti
Babesiosis
Biochemistry
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Cell Biology
Ecology
Forests
Infection
Insectivores
Life Sciences
Microtus oeconomus
Pathogens
Polymerase chain reaction
Sorex araneus
Taiga
Zoology
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Summary:Using PCR and nested PCR methods, 382 blood samples from adult small mammals of 14 species were examined for Babesia microti. The mammals were trapped in the southern taiga of the Middle Urals (Chusovskoi district, Perm Region). The DNA of human babesiosis agent was detected in the blood of 172 small mammals (45.0% of the samples examined) of 11 rodent and insectivore species (Chlethrionomys glareolus, C. rutilus, C. rufocanus, Microtus oeconomus, M. agrestis, Myopus schisticolor, Apodemus uralensis, Sorex araneus, S. caecutiens, S. isodon, S. tundrensis). Especially high infection rates were characteristic of C. glareolus and S. araneus (47.1 and 38.2 %, respectively), the most abundant small mammal species in the study area. The results confirm the high frequency of contact of small mammals with B. microti in forest ecosystems of the Middle Urals and indicate that they probably maintain circulation of this pathogen.
ISSN:1062-3590
1608-3059
DOI:10.1134/S1062359010070113