Molecular epidemiology of Bartonella species from sympatric mammals collected in urban and rural areas of Punjab, Pakistan

Rizwan M 1 , Ali S 2 , Javid A 3 , von Fricken ME 4 , Rashid MI 5

Affiliations 

  • 1 Wildlife Epidemiology and Molecular Microbiology Laboratory (One Health Research Group), Discipline of Zoology, Department of Wildlife and Ecology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Ravi Campus, Pattoki, Pakistan; Department of Wildlife and Ecology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Ravi Campus, Pattoki, Pakistan
  • 2 Wildlife Epidemiology and Molecular Microbiology Laboratory (One Health Research Group), Discipline of Zoology, Department of Wildlife and Ecology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Ravi Campus, Pattoki, Pakistan; Department of Wildlife and Ecology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Ravi Campus, Pattoki, Pakistan. Electronic address: shahzad.ali@uvas.edu.pk
  • 3 Department of Wildlife and Ecology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Ravi Campus, Pattoki, Pakistan
  • 4 Department of Global and Community Health, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA
  • 5 Department of Parasitology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan
Acta Trop, 2023 Jul;243:106940.
PMID: 37160189 DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2023.106940

Abstract

Bartonella can infect a variety of mammals including humans and has been detected in the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Roughly two-thirds of identified Bartonella species are found and maintained in rodent reservoirs, with some of these species linked to human infections. Rodents (N=236) were caught from the Sahiwal division of Punjab, Pakistan and tested for Bartonella using PCR targeting gltA and rpoB genes, followed by sequencing of rpoB-positive samples. Genetic relatedness to other published Bartonella spp. rpoB gene sequences were examined using BLAST and phylogenetic analysis. Overall, 7.62% (18/236) of rodents were positive for both gltA and rpoB fragments. Rattus rattus and R. norvegicus had 7.94% (12/151) and 7.05% (6/85) positivity rates for Bartonella DNA, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis revealed a close relatedness between Bartonella spp. from Pakistan to Bartonella spp. from China, Nepal, and Malaysia. This study is the first reported detection of Bartonella spp. in R. rattus and R. norvegicus from the Sahiwal area of Punjab, Pakistan.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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