Multidimensional perspectives of geo-epidemiology: from interdisciplinary learning and research to cost-benefit oriented decision-making.

Research typically promotes two types of outcomes (inventions and discoveries), which induce a virtuous cycle: something suspected or desired (not previously demonstrated) may become known or feasible once a new tool or procedure is invented and, later, the use of this invention may discover new knowledge. Research also promotes the opposite sequence-from new knowledge to new inventions. This bidirectional process is observed in geo-referenced epidemiology-a field that relates to but may also differ from spatial epidemiology.

Brucella microti and Rodent-Borne Brucellosis: A Neglected Public Health Threat.

Brucellosis is one of the most important zoonoses worldwide, primarily affecting livestock but also posing a serious threat to public health. The major Brucella species are known to cause a feverish disease in humans with various clinical signs. These classical Brucella species are (re-)emerging, but also novel strains and species, some of them transmitted from rodents, can be associated with human infections.

Geo-temporal patterns to design cost-effective interventions for zoonotic diseases -the case of brucellosis in the country of Georgia.

Introduction: Control of zoonosis can benefit from geo-referenced procedures. Focusing on brucellosis, here the ability of two methods to distinguish disease dissemination patterns and promote cost-effective interventions was compared.

Method: Geographical data on bovine, ovine and human brucellosis reported in the country of Georgia between 2014 and 2019 were investigated with (i) the Hot Spot (HS) analysis and (ii) a bio-geographical (BG) alternative.

Bartonella in Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) from the urban slum environment in Brazil.

Bartonella are rodent-borne bacteria that cause varied human etiologies. Studies on synanthropic rodents are rare, causing gaps in epidemiological knowledge. We tested bloodclot samples from 79 rats from an urban slum in Salvador, Brazil through PCR targeting gltA gene.

Assessing complexity and dynamics in epidemics: geographical barriers and facilitators of foot-and-mouth disease dissemination.

Introduction: Physical and non-physical processes that occur in nature may influence biological processes, such as dissemination of infectious diseases. However, such processes may be hard to detect when they are complex systems. Because complexity is a dynamic and non-linear interaction among numerous elements and structural levels in which specific effects are not necessarily linked to any one specific element, cause-effect connections are rarely or poorly observed.

Plague and Trace Metals in Natural Systems.

All pathogenic organisms are exposed to abiotic influences such as the microclimates and chemical constituents of their environments. Even those pathogens that exist primarily within their hosts or vectors can be influenced directly or indirectly. Yersinia pestis, the flea-borne bacterium causing plague, is influenced by climate and its survival in soil suggests a potentially strong influence of soil chemistry.

Evidence of Extensive Circulation of in Rodents and Shrews in Natural Habitats from Retrospective and Perspective Studies in South Caucasus.

culture-positive rodents and shrews were reported in different territories across Georgia during 14 of 17 years of investigations conducted for the period of 1981-1997. In total, was isolated from 2052 rodents (15 species) and 33 shrews. Most isolates were obtained from , , , and spp.

Presence of spp. and absence of spp. in urban rodents of Buenos Aires province, Argentina.

Big cities of Argentina are characterized by a strong social and economic fragmentation. This context enables the presence of urban rodents in close contact to the human population, mostly in the peripheral areas of the cities. Urban rodents can harbor a large variety of zoonotic pathogens.

Exposure of Domestic Cats to Three Zoonotic Species in the United States.

Cat-associated species, which include , , and can cause mild to severe illness in humans. In the present study, we evaluated 1362 serum samples obtained from domestic cats across the U.S.

Bats are key hosts in the radiation of mammal-associated Bartonella bacteria.

Bats are notorious reservoirs of several zoonotic diseases and may be uniquely tolerant of infection among mammals. Broad sampling has revealed the importance of bats in the diversification and spread of viruses and eukaryotes to other animal hosts. Vector-borne bacteria of the genus Bartonella are prevalent and diverse in mammals globally and recent surveys have revealed numerous Bartonella lineages in bats.

Trypanosoma (Herpetosoma) diversity in rodents and lagomorphs of New Mexico with a focus on epizootological aspects of infection in Southern Plains woodrats (Neotoma micropus).

Protozoan parasites of the genus Trypanosoma infect a broad diversity of vertebrates and several species cause significant illness in humans. However, understanding of the phylogenetic diversity, host associations, and infection dynamics of Trypanosoma species in naturally infected animals is incomplete. This study investigated the presence of Trypanosoma spp.

Flea Presence and Abundance Are not Predictors of Carriage in Norway Rats () from an Underserved Neighborhood of Vancouver, Canada.

Urban Norway rats () carry pathogenic spp. that are transmitted among rats and from rats to people through arthropod vectors, particularly fleas. There is marked temporospatial variation in spp.

Molecular detection of Bartonella henselae, Bartonella clarridgeiae and Rickettsia felis in cat and dog fleas in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.

The cat flea Ctenocephalides felis is the main vector of Bartonella henselae and Bartonella clarridgeiae, the causative agents of cat-scratch disease (CSD) and the spotted-fever agent Rickettsia felis. In spite of their worldwide distribution, there are no data on the occurrence of CSD-causing Bartonella species or the prevalence of Rickettsia species in the Canary Islands, Spain. Therefore, the aim of our study was to screen cat and dog fleas for both pathogens.

Pentaplex real-time PCR for differential detection of Yersinia pestis and Y. pseudotuberculosis and application for testing fleas collected during plague epizootics.

Upon acquiring two unique plasmids (pMT1 and pPCP1) and genome rearrangement during the evolution from Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, the plague causative agent Y. pestis is closely related to Y. pseudotuberculosis genetically but became highly virulent.

Identification of a Novel Strain from Bats in Association with a Bat Die-Off That Occurred in Georgia (Caucasus).

is a bacterial species within the genus , mostly known as a human enteric pathogen, but also recognized as a zoonotic agent widespread in domestic pigs. Findings of this bacterium in wild animals are very limited. The current report presents results of the identification of cultures of from dead bats after a massive bat die-off in a cave in western Georgia.

Bartonella species in medically important mosquitoes, Central Europe.

Here, we provide the first mass molecular screening of medically important mosquitoes for Bartonella species using multiple genetic markers. We examined a total of 72,115 mosquito specimens, morphologically attributed to Aedes vexans (61,050 individuals), Culex pipiens (10,484 individuals) and species of the Anopheles maculipennis complex (581 individuals) for Bartonella spp. The initial screening yielded 63 Bartonella-positive A.

Longitudinal Study of Bacterial Infectious Agents in a Community of Small Mammals in New Mexico.

Vector-borne bacterial diseases represent a substantial public health burden and rodents have been recognized as important reservoir hosts for many zoonotic pathogens. This study investigates bacterial pathogens in a small mammal community of the southwestern United States of America. A total of 473 samples from 13 wild rodent and 1 lagomorph species were tested for pathogens of public health significance: , , , , spp.

Identification of in Guinea Pigs () and Fleas Collected from Rural Peruvian Households.

In the present study, we tested 391 fleas collected from guinea pigs () (241 species, 110 , and 40 ) and 194 fleas collected from human bedding and clothing (142 species, 43 , five , and four ) for the presence of DNA. We also tested 83 blood spots collected on Flinders Technology Associates (FTA) cards from guinea pigs inhabiting 338 Peruvian households. DNA was detected in 81 (20.

species with evidence of genomic polymorphism isolated from resected heart valve in a patient with aortic stenosis.

The authors report isolation and identification of two strains of bacteria belonging to the genus from a human patient with aortic stenosis from a rural area of the country of Georgia. The microorganisms were isolated from aortic heart valve. Two isolates with slightly distinct colony morphologies were harvested after sub-culturing from an original agar plate.

Marmots and Strains in Two Plague Endemic Areas of Tien Shan Mountains.

The main purpose of this study was to clarify the role of gray marmots () in the long-term maintenance of highly virulent strains of in two plague endemic foci of the Tien Shan Mountains in Kyrgyzstan. We present data from regular observations of populations of and small rodents cohabiting with marmots in the mountainous grasslands of the Sari-Dzhas (east of Issyk-Kul Lake) and the Upper-Naryn (south of Issyk-Kul Lake) natural foci. During 2012-2017, an abundance of marmots and their ectoparasites (fleas and ticks) was significantly higher in Upper-Naryn comparing to Sari-Dzhas, although there were no differences in a number and diversity of small rodents cohabiting with marmots.

Comparative Ecology of and Infections in Wild Carnivores.

Phylogenetic sister clades and within the order Rhizobiales present some common biological characteristics as well as evident differences in adaptations to their mammalian reservoirs. We reviewed published data on and infections in wild carnivores to compare the ecology of these bacteria in relatively similar host environments. Arthropod vectors are the main mechanism for species transmission between mammalian hosts.