Resistance of leopard tortoises and helmeted guineafowl to Cowdria ruminantium infection (heartwater)

Experimental infection trials were conducted to investigate susceptibility of leopard tortoises ( Geochelone pardalis) and helmeted guineafowl ( Numida meleagris) to infection with Cowdria ruminantium, the causative agent of heartwater, a tickborne disease of domestic and wild ruminants. Ten guineaf...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Veterinary parasitology 2001-07, Vol.98 (4), p.299-307
Main Authors: Peter, Trevor F, Mahan, Suman M, Burridge, Michael J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amblyomma hebraeum
Amblyomma herbraeum
Amblyomma marmoreum
Animals
Cowdria ruminantium
Disease Susceptibility
Ehrlichia ruminantium
Female
Geochelone pardalis
Heartwater
Heartwater Disease - immunology
Helmeted guineafowl
Immunity, Innate
Leopard tortoise
Male
Numia meleagris
Poultry - immunology
Sheep
Ticks
Turtles - immunology
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Summary:Experimental infection trials were conducted to investigate susceptibility of leopard tortoises ( Geochelone pardalis) and helmeted guineafowl ( Numida meleagris) to infection with Cowdria ruminantium, the causative agent of heartwater, a tickborne disease of domestic and wild ruminants. Ten guineafowl were inoculated intravenously with a virulent dose of C. ruminantium derived from bovine endothelial cell cultures, and four leopard tortoises were exposed to C. ruminantium infection by the feeding of infected Amblyomma hebraeum ticks. Uninfected A. hebraeum ticks (on both tortoises and guineafowl) and Amblyomma marmoreum ticks (on tortoises only) were fed on the animals during weeks 2 and 3 post-exposure in an attempt to detect infection. These ticks were analyzed for C. ruminantium infection by xenodiagnosis and with the C. ruminantium-specific pCS20 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. Attempts to detect infection in ticks fed on either species were negative by both tests. These results suggest that leopard tortoises and helmeted guineafowl are refractory to C. ruminantium infection and, therefore, are unlikely to be capable of introducing heartwater directly into new areas. However, leopard tortoises are efficient hosts of A. marmoreum and A. hebraeum and are likely to be important epidemiologically in the transport and maintenance of these tick vector species.
ISSN:0304-4017
1873-2550
DOI:10.1016/S0304-4017(01)00438-1