Tsetse blood-meal sources, endosymbionts and trypanosome-associations in the Maasai Mara National Reserve, a wildlife-human-livestock interface

by Edward Edmond Makhulu, Jandouwe Villinger, Vincent Owino Adunga, Maamun M. Jeneby, Edwin Murungi Kimathi, Enock Mararo, Joseph Wang ’ang’a Oundo, Ali Abdulahi Musa, Lillian Wambua African trypanosomiasis (AT) is a neglected disease of both humans and animals caused byTrypanosoma parasites, which are transmitted by obligate hematophagous tsetse flies (Glossina spp.). Knowledge on tsetse fly vertebrate hosts and the influence of tsetse endosymbionts on trypanosome presence, especially in wildlife-human-livestock interfaces, is limited. We identified tsetse species, their blood-meal sources, and correlations between endosymbionts and trypanosome presence in tsetse flies from the trypanosome-endemic Maasai Mara National Reserve (MMNR) in Kenya. Among 1167 tsetse flies (1136Glossina pallidipes, 31Glossina swynnertoni) collected from 10 sampling sites, 28 (2.4%) were positive by PCR for trypanosome DNA, most (17/28) being ofTrypanosoma vivax species. Blood-meal analyses based on high-resolution melting analysis of vertebrate cytochrome c oxidase 1 and cytochrome b gene PCR products (n = 354) identified humans as the most common vertebrate host (37%), followed by hippopotamus (29.1%), African buffalo (26.3%), elephant (3.39%), and giraffe (0.84%). Flies positive for trypanosome DNA had fed on hippopotamus and buffalo. Tsetse flies were more likely to be positive for trypanosomes if they had theSodalis glossinidius endosymbiont (P = 0.0002). These findings point to complex in...
Source: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases - Category: Tropical Medicine Authors: Source Type: research