title: Identification of Tenrec ecaudatus, a Wild Mammal Introduced to Mayotte Island, as a Reservoir of the Newly Identified Human Pathogenic Leptospira mayottensis.
abstract: Leptospirosis is a bacterial zoonosis of major concern on tropical islands. Human populations on western Indian Ocean islands are strongly affected by the disease although each archipelago shows contrasting epidemiology. For instance, Mayotte, part of the Comoros Archipelago, differs from the other neighbouring islands by a high diversity of Leptospira species infecting humans that includes Leptospira mayottensis, a species thought to be unique to this island. Using bacterial culture, molecular detection and typing, the present study explored the wild and domestic local mammalian fauna for renal carriage of leptospires and addressed the genetic relationships of the infecting strains with local isolates obtained from acute human cases and with Leptospira strains hosted by mammal species endemic to nearby Madagascar. Tenrec (Tenrec ecaudatus, Family Tenrecidae), a terrestrial mammal introduced from Madagascar, is identified as a reservoir of L. mayottensis. All isolated L. mayottensis sequence types form a monophyletic clade that includes Leptospira strains infecting humans and tenrecs on Mayotte, as well as two other Malagasy endemic tenrecid species of the genus Microgale. The lower diversity of L. mayottensis in tenrecs from Mayotte, compared to that occurring in Madagascar, suggests that L. mayottensis has indeed a Malagasy origin. This study also showed that introduced rats (Rattus rattus) and dogs are probably the main reservoirs of Leptospira borgpetersenii and Leptospira kirschneri, both bacteria being prevalent in local clinical cases. Data emphasize the epidemiological link between the two neighbouring islands and the role of introduced small mammals in shaping the local epidemiology of leptospirosis.
authors: Centre de Recherche et de Veille sur les maladies émergentes dans l'Océan Indien (CRVOI), Plateforme de Recherche CYROI, Sainte Clotilde, Reunion Island, France.|Université de La Réunion, UMR PIMIT « Processus Infectieux en Milieu Insulaire Tropical », Plateforme de Recherche CYROI, Sainte Clotilde, Reunion Island, France.
authors: Erwan
authors: E
authors: Lagadec
authors: Centre de Recherche et de Veille sur les maladies émergentes dans l'Océan Indien (CRVOI), Plateforme de Recherche CYROI, Sainte Clotilde, Reunion Island, France.|Université de La Réunion, UMR PIMIT « Processus Infectieux en Milieu Insulaire Tropical », Plateforme de Recherche CYROI, Sainte Clotilde, Reunion Island, France.
authors: Yann
authors: Y
authors: Gomard
authors: Centre de Recherche et de Veille sur les maladies émergentes dans l'Océan Indien (CRVOI), Plateforme de Recherche CYROI, Sainte Clotilde, Reunion Island, France.|Université de La Réunion, UMR PIMIT « Processus Infectieux en Milieu Insulaire Tropical », Plateforme de Recherche CYROI, Sainte Clotilde, Reunion Island, France.
authors: Gildas
authors: G
authors: Le Minter
authors: Centre de Recherche et de Veille sur les maladies émergentes dans l'Océan Indien (CRVOI), Plateforme de Recherche CYROI, Sainte Clotilde, Reunion Island, France.|Université de La Réunion, UMR PIMIT « Processus Infectieux en Milieu Insulaire Tropical », Plateforme de Recherche CYROI, Sainte Clotilde, Reunion Island, France.
authors: Colette
authors: C
authors: Cordonin
authors: Centre de Recherche et de Veille sur les maladies émergentes dans l'Océan Indien (CRVOI), Plateforme de Recherche CYROI, Sainte Clotilde, Reunion Island, France.|UMR CMAEE « Contrôle des Maladies Animales, Exotiques et Emergentes », Plateforme de recherche CYROI, Sainte Clotilde, Reunion Island, France.
authors: Eric
authors: E
authors: Cardinale
authors: Centre de Recherche et de Veille sur les maladies émergentes dans l'Océan Indien (CRVOI), Plateforme de Recherche CYROI, Sainte Clotilde, Reunion Island, France.|Université de La Réunion, UMR PIMIT « Processus Infectieux en Milieu Insulaire Tropical », Plateforme de Recherche CYROI, Sainte Clotilde, Reunion Island, France.
authors: Beza
authors: B
authors: Ramasindrazana
authors: Centre de Recherche et de Veille sur les maladies émergentes dans l'Océan Indien (CRVOI), Plateforme de Recherche CYROI, Sainte Clotilde, Reunion Island, France.|Center for Viral Zoonoses, Department of Medical Virology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
authors: Muriel
authors: M
authors: Dietrich
authors: Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America.|Association Vahatra, Antananarivo, Madagascar.
authors: Steven M
authors: SM
authors: Goodman
authors: Centre de Recherche et de Veille sur les maladies émergentes dans l'Océan Indien (CRVOI), Plateforme de Recherche CYROI, Sainte Clotilde, Reunion Island, France.|Université de La Réunion, UMR PIMIT « Processus Infectieux en Milieu Insulaire Tropical », Plateforme de Recherche CYROI, Sainte Clotilde, Reunion Island, France.
authors: Pablo
authors: P
authors: Tortosa
authors: Centre de Recherche et de Veille sur les maladies émergentes dans l'Océan Indien (CRVOI), Plateforme de Recherche CYROI, Sainte Clotilde, Reunion Island, France.|Université de La Réunion, UMR PIMIT « Processus Infectieux en Milieu Insulaire Tropical », Plateforme de Recherche CYROI, Sainte Clotilde, Reunion Island, France.
authors: Koussay
authors: K
authors: Dellagi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017507:Comoros; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004197:Disease Reservoirs / Q000382:microbiology*; D007312:Eulipotyphla / Q000382:microbiology*; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D058865:Introduced Species; D007919:Leptospira / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D007922:Leptospirosis / Q000635:transmission*; D008270:Madagascar; D010802:Phylogeny; D015047:Zoonoses / Q000635:transmission
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial