Vector-Borne Pathogens in Ectoparasites Collected from High-Elevation Pika Populations

AbstractThe American pika,Ochotona princeps, is projected to decline throughout North America as climate change reduces its range, and pikas have already disappeared from several locations. In addition to climate, disease spillover from lower elevation mammalian species might affect pikas. We sampled pika fleas in Colorado and Montana across elevations ranging from 2896 to 3612  m and screened them for the presence of DNA from rodent-associated bacterial pathogens (Bartonella species andYersinia pestis) to test the hypothesis that flea exchange between pikas and rodents may lead to occurrence of rodent-associated pathogens in pika ectoparasites. We collected 275 fleas from 74 individual pikas at 5 sites in Colorado and one site in Montana. We found that 5.5% of 275 pika fleas in this study tested positive for rodent-associatedBartonella DNA but that variation inBartonella infection prevalence in fleas among sites was not driven by elevation. Specifically, we detected DNA sequences from two loci (gltA andrpoB) that are most similar toBartonella grahamii isolates collected from rodents in Canada. We did not detectY. pestis DNA in our survey. Our results demonstrate evidence of rodent-associated flea-borne bacteria in pika fleas. These findings are also consistent with the hypothesis that rodent-associated pathogens could be acquired by pikas. Flea-borne pathogen spillover from rodents to pikas has the potential to exacerbate the more direct effects of climate that have been su...
Source: EcoHealth - Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research