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Leptospirosis is a worldwide emerging infectious disease caused by zoonotic bacteria of the genus Leptospira. Numerous mammals, including domestic and companion animals, can be infected by Leptospira spp., but rodents and other small mammals are considered the main reservoir. The annual number of recorded human leptospirosis cases in Germany (2001-2016) was 25-166. Field fever outbreaks in strawberry pickers, due to infection with Leptospira kirschneri serovar Grippotyphosa, were reported in 2007 and 2014. To identify the most commonly occurring Leptospira genomospecies, sequence types (STs), and their small mammal host specificity, a monitoring study was performed during 2010-2014 in four federal states of Germany. Initial screening of kidney tissues of 3,950 animals by PCR targeting the lipl32 gene revealed 435 rodents of 6 species and 89 shrews of three species positive for leptospiral DNA. PCR-based analyses resulted in the identification of the genomospecies L. kirschneri (62.7%), Leptospira interrogans (28.3%), and Leptospira borgpetersenii (9.0%), which are represented by four, one, and two STs, respectively. The average Leptospira prevalence was highest (approximate to 30%) in common voles (Microtus arvalis) and field voles (Microtus agrestis). Both species were exclusively infected with L. kirschneri. In contrast, in bank voles (Myodes glareolus) and yellow-necked mice (Apodemus flavicollis), DNA of all three genomospecies was detected, and in common shrews (Sorex araneus) DNA of L. kirschneri and L. borgpetersenii was identified. The association between individual infection status and demographic factors varied between species; infection status was always positively correlated to body weight. In conclusion, the study confirmed a broad geographical distribution of Leptospira in small mammals and suggested an important public health relevance of common and field voles as reservoirs of L. kirschneri. Furthermore, the investigations identified seasonal, habitat-related, as well as individual influences on Leptospira prevalence in small mammals that might impact public health.
Tula orthohantavirus (TULV) is a rodent-borne hantavirus with broad geographical distribution in Europe. Its major reservoir is the common vole (Microtus arvalis), but TULV has also been detected in closely related vole species. Given the large distributional range and high amplitude population dynamics of common voles, this host-pathogen complex presents an ideal system to study the complex mechanisms of pathogen transmission in a wild rodent reservoir. We investigated the dynamics of TULV prevalence and the subsequent potential effects on the molecular evolution of TULV in common voles of the Central evolutionary lineage. Rodents were trapped for three years in four regions of Germany and samples were analyzed for the presence of TULV-reactive antibodies and TULV RNA with subsequent sequence determination. The results show that individual (sex) and population-level factors (abundance) of hosts were significant predictors of local TULV dynamics. At the large geographic scale, different phylogenetic TULV clades and an overall isolation-by-distance pattern in virus sequences were detected, while at the small scale (<4 km) this depended on the study area. In combination with an overall delayed density dependence, our results highlight that frequent, localized bottleneck events for the common vole and TULV do occur and can be offset by local recolonization dynamics.
Background
In Europe, bank voles (Myodes glareolus) are widely distributed and can transmit Puumala virus (PUUV) to humans, which causes a mild to moderate form of haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, called nephropathia epidemica. Uncovering the link between host and virus dynamics can help to prevent human PUUV infections in the future. Bank voles were live trapped three times a year in 2010–2013 in three woodland plots in each of four regions in Germany. Bank vole population density was estimated and blood samples collected to detect PUUV specific antibodies.
Results
We demonstrated that fluctuation of PUUV seroprevalence is dependent not only on multi-annual but also on seasonal dynamics of rodent host abundance. Moreover, PUUV infection might affect host fitness, because seropositive individuals survived better from spring to summer than uninfected bank voles. Individual space use was independent of PUUV infections.
Conclusions
Our study provides robust estimations of relevant patterns and processes of the dynamics of PUUV and its rodent host in Central Europe, which are highly important for the future development of predictive models for human hantavirus infection risk.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, spotted fever rickettsioses are known as emerging diseases worldwide. Rickettsiae are obligately intracellular bacteria transmitted by arthropod vectors. The ecology of Rickettsia species has not been investigated in detail, but small mammals are considered to play a role as reservoirs. Aim of this study was to monitor rickettsiae in wild small mammals over a period of five years in four federal states of Germany. Initial screening of ear pinna tissues of 3939 animals by Pan-Rick real-time PCR targeting the citrate synthase (gltA) gene revealed 296 rodents of seven species and 19 shrews of two species positive for rickettsial DNA. Outer membrane protein gene (ompB, ompAIV) PCRs based typing resulted in the identification of three species: Rickettsia helvetica (90.9%) was found as the dominantly occurring species in the four investigated federal states, but Rickettsia felis (7.8%) and Rickettsia raoultii (1.3%) were also detected. The prevalence of Rickettsia spp. in rodents of the genus Apodemus was found to be higher (approximately 14%) than in all other rodent and shrew species at all investigated sites. General linear mixed model analyses indicated that heavier (older) individuals of yellow-necked mice and male common voles seem to contain more often rickettsial DNA than younger ones. Furthermore, rodents generally collected in forests in summer and autumn more often carried rickettsial DNA. In conclusion, this study indicated a high prevalence of R. helvetica in small mammal populations and suggests an age-dependent increase of the DNA prevalence in some of the species and in animals originating from forest habitats. The finding of R. helvetica and R. felis DNA in multiple small mammal species may indicate frequent trans-species transmission by feeding of vectors on different species. Further investigations should target the reason for the discrepancy between the high rickettsial DNA prevalence in rodents and the so far almost absence of clinical apparent human infections.
Background
In Europe, bank voles (Myodes glareolus) are widely distributed and can transmit Puumala virus (PUUV) to humans, which causes a mild to moderate form of haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, called nephropathia epidemica. Uncovering the link between host and virus dynamics can help to prevent human PUUV infections in the future. Bank voles were live trapped three times a year in 2010–2013 in three woodland plots in each of four regions in Germany. Bank vole population density was estimated and blood samples collected to detect PUUV specific antibodies.
Results
We demonstrated that fluctuation of PUUV seroprevalence is dependent not only on multi-annual but also on seasonal dynamics of rodent host abundance. Moreover, PUUV infection might affect host fitness, because seropositive individuals survived better from spring to summer than uninfected bank voles. Individual space use was independent of PUUV infections.
Conclusions
Our study provides robust estimations of relevant patterns and processes of the dynamics of PUUV and its rodent host in Central Europe, which are highly important for the future development of predictive models for human hantavirus infection risk
Unter Rekurs auf zwei historische Erscheinungsformen des Ghettos – auf jüdische Wohnviertel der Frühen Neuzeit und nationalsozialistische Ghettos – wurde der Begriff ‚Ghetto’ zum Symbol von Joch und Verfolgung stilisiert. Diese Sprachpraxis etablierte eine einseitige Forschungsperspektive, die sich ihrem Gegenstand aus dem Täter-Opfer-Paradigma heraus näherte. In der jüngsten Zeit unternahm man jedoch Versuche, diese Perspektive zu brechen, indem man das Ghetto-Phänomen anhand solcher Untersuchungskategorien wie ‚Lebenswelt’, ‚Erfahrung’ und ‚Konstruktion von Raum’ sowie ‚Ambivalenz von Raum und Grenze’ befragte. Das stetig wachsende Interesse an begrifflicher Reflexion über den Sprachkörper ‚Ghetto’ und an den von ihm bezeichneten historischen Phänomenen samt ihren Widerspiegelungen in der Literatur und bildenden Künsten ist ein starkes Indiz für einen Wandel der Sehgewohnheiten innerhalb der Forschung. In Folge der vorgenommenen Differenzierungen entwickeln sich neue Fragestellungen und Ansätze, die die Reduktion der Wissenschaft von der jüdischen Geschichte und Kultur auf die Kategorien von ‚Unterdrückung’ und ‚Verfolgung’ zu überwinden erlauben. Mit dem vorliegenden Heft möchten wir einen Beitrag zu diesem Fachgespräch leisten. Die hier abgedruckten Beiträge lassen sich in zwei Kategorien unterteilen. Zum einen sind es explizite Befragungen des Ghetto-Begriffs im Dienste wissenschaftsgeschichtlicher Reflexionen oder neuer Verfahren zur Erforschung historischer Erscheinungsformen des Ghettos. Hierzu gehören die Artikel von Kristiane Gerhardt, Svenja Bethke und Hanna Schmidt Holländer sowie Birgitt Wagner. In ihren historiographiegeschichtlich bzw. methodologisch orientierten Erörterungen zeigen die Autorinnen die normative Dimension und die daraus resultierende semantische Wandelbarkeit des Ghetto-Begriffs samt ihren Konsequenzen für die Forschungspraxis. In die zweite Kategorie lassen sich wiederum phänomenologisch interessierte Untersuchungen einreihen, die entweder geschichtliche Fallstudien oder Betrachtungen literarischer Repräsentationen des Themas sind. Hierzu gehören die Beiträge von Luca Baraldi, Stratos N. Dordanas und Vaios Kalogrias, Tanja Kinzel, Francisca Solomon und Elvira Grözinger.