BioOne.org will be down briefly for maintenance on 12 February 2025 between 18:00-21:00 Pacific Time US. We apologize for any inconvenience.
How to translate text using browser tools
5 April 2024 Hemotropic Mycoplasmas (Hemoplasmas) in Free-Ranging Azara's Agoutis (Dasyprocta azarae) from an Urban Area of Southern Brazil
Nelly O. Elshafie, Louise B. Kmetiuk, Maysa Pellizzaro, Amanda Haisi, Francisco de O. Conrado, Patricia Weckerlin, Leila S. Ullmann, João P. Araújo Junior, Joanne B. Messick, Alexander W. Biondo, Andrea P. dos Santos
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Hemotropic mycoplasmas (hemoplasmas) are opportunistic bacteria that attach to the erythrocyte surface, causing infectious anemia in several mammalian species, including rodents. Studies surveying native Azara's agoutis (Dasyprocta azarae) in Brazil are lacking. Accordingly, the present study aimed to assess hemoplasmas infection in free-ranging agoutis from an urban environmental conservation area in Curitiba, southern Brazil. Overall, 11/35 (31.43%) agoutis were positive to hemoplasmas by quantitative PCR (cycle threshold≤34.4). Sequencing of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene indicated Mycoplasma haemomuris infection, closely related to M. haemomuris subsp. ratti, suggesting hemoplasma transmission from urban rats to agoutis. Because the main route of M. haemomuris transmission has been direct rodent-to-rodent infection, the relatively lower positivity that we detected may be the result of low intraspecies contact due to the smaller social units of agoutis, generally consisting of two to four individuals, and low interspecies contact due to only sporadic agouti-rat interactions in urban settings, compared with other rodent species interactions. Further studies should be conducted to determine whether the hemoplasma infection that we found can cause clinical onset and life-threatening anemia in agoutis.

Nelly O. Elshafie, Louise B. Kmetiuk, Maysa Pellizzaro, Amanda Haisi, Francisco de O. Conrado, Patricia Weckerlin, Leila S. Ullmann, João P. Araújo Junior, Joanne B. Messick, Alexander W. Biondo, and Andrea P. dos Santos "Hemotropic Mycoplasmas (Hemoplasmas) in Free-Ranging Azara's Agoutis (Dasyprocta azarae) from an Urban Area of Southern Brazil," Journal of Wildlife Diseases 60(2), 513-518, (5 April 2024). https://doi.org/10.7589/JWD-D-23-00079
Received: 5 May 2023; Accepted: 24 November 2023; Published: 5 April 2024
KEYWORDS
infectious disease
Rodentia
wild rodents
zoonosis
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top