Browsing by Author "katakweba, Abdul A. S."

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Prevalence of Rickettsia typhi in rodent fleas from areas with and without previous history of plague in Mbulu district, Tanzania
(2019-12-16) Thomas ,Claus A.; katakweba, Abdul A. S.; Massawe Apia W.; Makundi, Rhodes H.; Machang’u, Robert S.; Kessy, Stella T.
Rickettsial diseases are worldwide emerging arthropod borne zoonoses that are caused by an obligate intracellular Gram-negative bacterium often found in vector fleas (Abdad et al., 2019; Noh et al., 2017). Rickettsioses are traditionally divided into the spotted fever, typhus, and the scrub typhus groups (Mcleod et al., 2004; Giulieri et al., 2012). Murine typhus, also called endemic typhus or flea- borne typhus is caused by Rickettsia typhi (Civen and Ngo, 2008). The disease is transmitted by fleas (Xenopsylla cheopis) found on rodents (Eremeeva et al., 2008). People get murine typhus when rodent flea faeces containing the rickettsial agents contaminate the bite sites or other skin openings during feeding (La Scola et al., 2000). The conjunctiva can also be the port of entry for R. typhi (Noden et al., 2017). Similar to plaguemurine typhus would occur in areas where rodents and the fleas are abundant mostly in farms, forests and residential houses (Laudisoit et al., 2014). Limited studies on murine typhus have been done in Tanzania, specifically in Mbeya and Moshi districts by Dill et al. (2013) and Prabhu et al. (2011). However, more extensive studies have been done in other countries, such as the serological evidence of exposure to R. felis and R. typhi in Australian veterinarians by Teoh et al. (2017) and the short report on murine typhus in Caldas Colombia (Hidalgo et al., 2008). Apart from the limited information on murine typhus in Tanzania, little is known on its prevalence in the areas with previous history of Yersinia pestis plague, such as Mbulu district. Since murine typhus transmission cycle is similar to that of plague, there is the likelihood that murine typhus is prevalent in Tanzania in areas with previous history of plague. Mbulu District is known as one of the hotspots of plague in Tanzania (Makundi et al., 2008). The outbreak was revealed in some of villages including Tumati and Arri in the Division of Dongobesh in Mbulu, where 35 cases of plague were initially reported, with six deaths (Makundi et al., 2008). The victims had clinical symptoms of plague, including buboes, high fever, chills, headache, weakness, vomiting, nausea and prostration (Ben-Ari et al., 2011; Leirs et al., 2010). This study aimed at detecting R. typhi in rodent fleas by conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from areas with and without previous history of plague in Mbulu District. This information will contribute to the design of disease control strategies of murine typhus and other rickettsial diseases in the future. MATERIALS AND METHODS (3°45'00.0"S 35°20'00.0"E) with the altitude ranging from 1930 to 2250 m above sea level (Ziwa et al., 2013). This involved two villages with and without previous history of plague, namely Endesh and Mongahay respectively (Figure 1). Samples were collected in three habitats, agricultural land, forest and inside houses in both villages.