A cross sectional study on molecular prevalence of Orientia tsutsugamushi in household rat population of South India

This study aimed to assess the molecular prevalence of mite-borne zoonotic pathogen O. tsutsugamushi in household rats of South India through nested polymerase chain reaction amplification of O. tsutsugamushi 47-kDa htrA gene and to determine the most suitable sample type for screening of O. tsutsug...

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Published in:Comparative immunology, microbiology and infectious diseases microbiology and infectious diseases, 2024-08, Vol.111, p.102212, Article 102212
Main Authors: Purushothaman, S., Azhahianambi, P., Dharman, M., Gokula Kannan, R., Tirumurugaan, K.G., Soundararajan, C., Aravindh Babu, R.P., Devaraju, Panneer, Prakash, John A.J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Faeces
Household rat
Orientia tsutsugamushi
Scrub typhus
Tissues
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Summary:This study aimed to assess the molecular prevalence of mite-borne zoonotic pathogen O. tsutsugamushi in household rats of South India through nested polymerase chain reaction amplification of O. tsutsugamushi 47-kDa htrA gene and to determine the most suitable sample type for screening of O. tsutsugamushi in rats. Out of 85 rats trapped in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Puducherry regions, 47 rats were found positive for the O. tsutsugamushi genome with prevalence of 55.29 %. Among different sample types screened, faecal samples exhibited the highest positivity rate, followed by liver, spleen, kidney, and blood samples. Agreement between faecal and spleen samples of rats for the presence of O. tsutsugamushi was the highest. Principal component analysis revealed a positive correlation between the spleen, liver, and faeces and a negative correlation between blood and faeces for the presence of O. tsutsugamushi genome. These findings underscore the varied distribution of O. tsutsugamushi among different samples and indicate that the faecal and liver samples of rats are an ideal choice of samples for epidemiological studies. This is the first study to report a high level of presence of O. tsutsugamushi in faecal samples of rats. [Display omitted] •Molecular prevalence of Orientia tsutsugamushi in household rat population of South India was 55.29 %.•This is the first report identified the presence of O. tsutsugamushi genome in rat faecal samples with 54.55 % positivity.•Positive correlation in the distribution of O. tsutsugamushi was found between rat spleen, liver, and faecal samples.
ISSN:0147-9571
1878-1667
1878-1667
DOI:10.1016/j.cimid.2024.102212