Cargando…

Molecular pathogen screening of louse flies (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) from domestic and wild ruminants in Austria

BACKGROUND: Hippoboscid flies (Diptera: Hippoboscidae), also known as louse flies or keds, are obligate blood-sucking ectoparasites of animals, and accidentally of humans. The potential role of hippoboscids as vectors of human and veterinary pathogens is being increasingly investigated, but the pres...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Peña-Espinoza, Miguel, Em, Daniel, Shahi-Barogh, Bita, Berer, Dominik, Duscher, Georg G., van der Vloedt, Lara, Glawischnig, Walter, Rehbein, Steffen, Harl, Josef, Unterköfler, Maria S., Fuehrer, Hans-Peter
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10236838/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37269018
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13071-023-05810-4
_version_ 1785053030926778368
author Peña-Espinoza, Miguel
Em, Daniel
Shahi-Barogh, Bita
Berer, Dominik
Duscher, Georg G.
van der Vloedt, Lara
Glawischnig, Walter
Rehbein, Steffen
Harl, Josef
Unterköfler, Maria S.
Fuehrer, Hans-Peter
author_facet Peña-Espinoza, Miguel
Em, Daniel
Shahi-Barogh, Bita
Berer, Dominik
Duscher, Georg G.
van der Vloedt, Lara
Glawischnig, Walter
Rehbein, Steffen
Harl, Josef
Unterköfler, Maria S.
Fuehrer, Hans-Peter
author_sort Peña-Espinoza, Miguel
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Hippoboscid flies (Diptera: Hippoboscidae), also known as louse flies or keds, are obligate blood-sucking ectoparasites of animals, and accidentally of humans. The potential role of hippoboscids as vectors of human and veterinary pathogens is being increasingly investigated, but the presence and distribution of infectious agents in louse flies is still unknown in parts of Europe. Here, we report the use of molecular genetics to detect and characterize vector-borne pathogens in hippoboscid flies infesting domestic and wild animals in Austria. METHODS: Louse flies were collected from naturally infested cattle (n = 25), sheep (n = 3), and red deer (n = 12) across Austria between 2015 and 2019. Individual insects were morphologically identified to species level and subjected to DNA extraction for molecular pathogen screening and barcoding. Genomic DNA from each louse fly was screened for Borrelia spp., Bartonella spp., Trypanosomatida, Anaplasmataceae, Filarioidea and Piroplasmida. Obtained sequences of Trypanosomatida and Bartonella spp. were further characterized by phylogenetic and haplotype networking analyses. RESULTS: A total of 282 hippoboscid flies corresponding to three species were identified: Hippobosca equina (n = 62) collected from cattle, Melophagus ovinus (n = 100) from sheep and Lipoptena cervi (n = 120) from red deer (Cervus elaphus). Molecular screening revealed pathogen DNA in 54.3% of hippoboscids, including infections with single (63.39%), two (30.71%) and up to three (5.90%) distinct pathogens in the same individual. Bartonella DNA was detected in 36.9% of the louse flies. Lipoptena cervi were infected with 10 distinct and previously unreported Bartonella sp. haplotypes, some closely associated with strains of zoonotic potential. DNA of trypanosomatids was identified in 34% of hippoboscids, including the first description of Trypanosoma sp. in H. equina. Anaplasmataceae DNA (Wolbachia spp.) was detected only in M. ovinus (16%), while < 1% of the louse flies were positive for Borrelia spp. and Filarioidea. All hippoboscids were negative for Piroplasmida. CONCLUSIONS: Molecular genetic screening confirmed the presence of several pathogens in hippoboscids infesting domestic and wild ruminants in Austria, including novel pathogen haplotypes of zoonotic potential (e.g. Bartonella spp.) and the first report of Trypanosoma sp. in H. equina, suggesting a potential role of this louse fly as vector of animal trypanosomatids. Experimental transmission studies and expanded monitoring of hippoboscid flies and hippoboscid-associated pathogens are warranted to clarify the competence of these ectoparasites as vectors of infectious agents in a One-Health context. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: [Image: see text] SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13071-023-05810-4.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-10236838
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2023
publisher BioMed Central
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-102368382023-06-03 Molecular pathogen screening of louse flies (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) from domestic and wild ruminants in Austria Peña-Espinoza, Miguel Em, Daniel Shahi-Barogh, Bita Berer, Dominik Duscher, Georg G. van der Vloedt, Lara Glawischnig, Walter Rehbein, Steffen Harl, Josef Unterköfler, Maria S. Fuehrer, Hans-Peter Parasit Vectors Research BACKGROUND: Hippoboscid flies (Diptera: Hippoboscidae), also known as louse flies or keds, are obligate blood-sucking ectoparasites of animals, and accidentally of humans. The potential role of hippoboscids as vectors of human and veterinary pathogens is being increasingly investigated, but the presence and distribution of infectious agents in louse flies is still unknown in parts of Europe. Here, we report the use of molecular genetics to detect and characterize vector-borne pathogens in hippoboscid flies infesting domestic and wild animals in Austria. METHODS: Louse flies were collected from naturally infested cattle (n = 25), sheep (n = 3), and red deer (n = 12) across Austria between 2015 and 2019. Individual insects were morphologically identified to species level and subjected to DNA extraction for molecular pathogen screening and barcoding. Genomic DNA from each louse fly was screened for Borrelia spp., Bartonella spp., Trypanosomatida, Anaplasmataceae, Filarioidea and Piroplasmida. Obtained sequences of Trypanosomatida and Bartonella spp. were further characterized by phylogenetic and haplotype networking analyses. RESULTS: A total of 282 hippoboscid flies corresponding to three species were identified: Hippobosca equina (n = 62) collected from cattle, Melophagus ovinus (n = 100) from sheep and Lipoptena cervi (n = 120) from red deer (Cervus elaphus). Molecular screening revealed pathogen DNA in 54.3% of hippoboscids, including infections with single (63.39%), two (30.71%) and up to three (5.90%) distinct pathogens in the same individual. Bartonella DNA was detected in 36.9% of the louse flies. Lipoptena cervi were infected with 10 distinct and previously unreported Bartonella sp. haplotypes, some closely associated with strains of zoonotic potential. DNA of trypanosomatids was identified in 34% of hippoboscids, including the first description of Trypanosoma sp. in H. equina. Anaplasmataceae DNA (Wolbachia spp.) was detected only in M. ovinus (16%), while < 1% of the louse flies were positive for Borrelia spp. and Filarioidea. All hippoboscids were negative for Piroplasmida. CONCLUSIONS: Molecular genetic screening confirmed the presence of several pathogens in hippoboscids infesting domestic and wild ruminants in Austria, including novel pathogen haplotypes of zoonotic potential (e.g. Bartonella spp.) and the first report of Trypanosoma sp. in H. equina, suggesting a potential role of this louse fly as vector of animal trypanosomatids. Experimental transmission studies and expanded monitoring of hippoboscid flies and hippoboscid-associated pathogens are warranted to clarify the competence of these ectoparasites as vectors of infectious agents in a One-Health context. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: [Image: see text] SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13071-023-05810-4. BioMed Central 2023-06-02 /pmc/articles/PMC10236838/ /pubmed/37269018 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13071-023-05810-4 Text en © The Author(s) 2023 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) . The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) ) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.
spellingShingle Research
Peña-Espinoza, Miguel
Em, Daniel
Shahi-Barogh, Bita
Berer, Dominik
Duscher, Georg G.
van der Vloedt, Lara
Glawischnig, Walter
Rehbein, Steffen
Harl, Josef
Unterköfler, Maria S.
Fuehrer, Hans-Peter
Molecular pathogen screening of louse flies (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) from domestic and wild ruminants in Austria
title Molecular pathogen screening of louse flies (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) from domestic and wild ruminants in Austria
title_full Molecular pathogen screening of louse flies (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) from domestic and wild ruminants in Austria
title_fullStr Molecular pathogen screening of louse flies (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) from domestic and wild ruminants in Austria
title_full_unstemmed Molecular pathogen screening of louse flies (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) from domestic and wild ruminants in Austria
title_short Molecular pathogen screening of louse flies (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) from domestic and wild ruminants in Austria
title_sort molecular pathogen screening of louse flies (diptera: hippoboscidae) from domestic and wild ruminants in austria
topic Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10236838/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37269018
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13071-023-05810-4
work_keys_str_mv AT penaespinozamiguel molecularpathogenscreeningoflousefliesdipterahippoboscidaefromdomesticandwildruminantsinaustria
AT emdaniel molecularpathogenscreeningoflousefliesdipterahippoboscidaefromdomesticandwildruminantsinaustria
AT shahibaroghbita molecularpathogenscreeningoflousefliesdipterahippoboscidaefromdomesticandwildruminantsinaustria
AT bererdominik molecularpathogenscreeningoflousefliesdipterahippoboscidaefromdomesticandwildruminantsinaustria
AT duschergeorgg molecularpathogenscreeningoflousefliesdipterahippoboscidaefromdomesticandwildruminantsinaustria
AT vandervloedtlara molecularpathogenscreeningoflousefliesdipterahippoboscidaefromdomesticandwildruminantsinaustria
AT glawischnigwalter molecularpathogenscreeningoflousefliesdipterahippoboscidaefromdomesticandwildruminantsinaustria
AT rehbeinsteffen molecularpathogenscreeningoflousefliesdipterahippoboscidaefromdomesticandwildruminantsinaustria
AT harljosef molecularpathogenscreeningoflousefliesdipterahippoboscidaefromdomesticandwildruminantsinaustria
AT unterkoflermarias molecularpathogenscreeningoflousefliesdipterahippoboscidaefromdomesticandwildruminantsinaustria
AT fuehrerhanspeter molecularpathogenscreeningoflousefliesdipterahippoboscidaefromdomesticandwildruminantsinaustria