Using hematophagous fly blood meals to study the diversity of blood-borne pathogens infecting wild mammals.
Loading...
Files
Supplementary Material
Table S3-S4
Date
2022-06-22
Authors
Mwakasungula, Solomon
Rougeron, Virginie
Arnathau, Céline
Boundenga, Larson
Miguel, Eve
Boissière, Anne
Jiolle, Davy
Durand, Patrick
Msigwa, Alphonce
Mswata, Sarah
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Published Version
Abstract
Many emerging infectious diseases originate from wild animals, so there is a profound need for surveillance and monitoring of their pathogens. However, the practical difficulty of sample acquisition from wild animals tends to limit the feasibility and effectiveness of such surveys. Xenosurveillance, using blood-feeding invertebrates to obtain tissue samples from wild animals and then detect their pathogens, is a promising method to do so. Here we describe the use of tsetse fly blood meals to determine (directly through molecular diagnostic and indirectly through serology), the diversity of circulating blood-borne pathogens (including bacteria, viruses and protozoa) in a natural mammalian community of Tanzania. Molecular analyses of captured tsetse flies (182 pools of flies totalizing 1728 flies) revealed that the blood meals obtained came from 18 different vertebrate species including 16 non-human mammals, representing approximately 25% of the large mammal species present in the study area. Molecular diagnostic demonstrated the presence of different protozoa parasites and bacteria of medical and/or veterinary interest. None of the six virus species searched for by molecular methods were detected but an ELISA test detected antibodies against African swine fever virus among warthogs, indicating that the virus had been circulating in the area. Sampling of blood-feeding insects represents an efficient and practical approach to tracking a diversity of pathogens from multiple mammalian species, directly through molecular diagnostic or indirectly through serology, which could readily expand and enhance our understanding of the ecology and evolution of infectious agents and their interactions with their hosts in wild animal communities.
Description
Keywords
Invertebrate-derived DNA (iDNA) , Wildlife infectious diseases , Xenosurveillance , Blood meals , Tsetse flies
Citation
Mwakasungula, S., Rougeron, V., Arnathau, C., Boundenga, L., Miguel, E., Boissière, A., Jiolle, D., Durand, P., Msigwa, A., Mswata, S., Olotu, A., Sterkers, Y., Roche, B., Killeen, G., Cerqueira, F., Bitome-Essono, P. Y., Bretagnolle, F., Masanja, H., Paupy, C., Sumaye, R. and Prugnolle, F. (2022) 'Using hematophagous fly blood meals to study the diversity of blood-borne pathogens infecting wild mammals', Molecular Ecology Resources. doi: 10.1111/1755-0998.13670
Link to publisher’s version
Copyright
© 2022, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. This is the peer reviewed version of the following item: Mwakasungula, S., Rougeron, V., Arnathau, C., Boundenga, L., Miguel, E., Boissière, A., Jiolle, D., Durand, P., Msigwa, A., Mswata, S., Olotu, A., Sterkers, Y., Roche, B., Killeen, G., Cerqueira, F., Bitome-Essono, P. Y., Bretagnolle, F., Masanja, H., Paupy, C., Sumaye, R. and Prugnolle, F. (2022) 'Using hematophagous fly blood meals to study the diversity of blood-borne pathogens infecting wild mammals', Molecular Ecology Resources, doi: 10.1111/1755-0998.13670, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.13670. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.