Objective To investigate the species of hosts and vectors, seasonal variation, and pathogen genotypes in the natural focus of scrub typhus in Pinggu district of Beijing, China through field investigation and laboratory study, and to provide a basis for the prevention and control of scrub typhus. Methods Rat traps were placed in field every month for one year, and small mammals were captured to collect chigger mites on body surface and analyze the number, species composition, seasonal variation, and spatial distribution of chigger mites. The small mammals were dissected to collect the liver and the spleen and extract DNA from the tissue, and nested PCR amplification was used to detect the 56 kDa protein gene of Orientia tsutsugamushi (Ot). The genotype of Ot was determined by nucleic acid sequence alignment and the positive rate in small mammals was calculated. Results A total of 734 small mammals belonging to 7 species were captured from September 2018 to August 2019, among which Apodemus agrarius and Mus musculus accounted for 65.26% and 30.52%, respectively, and were the dominant species in Pinggu district. Three genotypes of Ot, i.e., Shimokoshi, Kawasaki, and Japan Gilliam, were detected in the liver and spleen of small mammals, among which Shimokoshi and Kawasaki were more common. The positive rate of Ot was 10.90% in small mammals. The positive rate of Ot was 14.86% in M. musculus and 9.30% in A. agrarius, and thus they were the main hosts in Pinggu district. A total of 31 321 chigger mites belonging to 10 species were collected on the body surface of the small mammals, and Leptotrombidium subpalpale, L. linhuaikongense, and L. scutellare accounted for 84.79%, 6.49%, and 3.63%, respectively. The seasonal variation of L. scutellare was generally consistent with that of scrub typhus cases, and thus L. scutellare might be the main vector in this epidemic focus. L. scutellare was only distributed in the mountainous area and the piedmont transitional zone of Pinggu district. Conclusion A. agrarius and M. musculus are the main hosts and L. scutellare is the main vector in the natural focus of scrub typhus in Pinggu district, and there are at least three genotypes of scrub typhus pathogens. This investigation clarifies the basic elements in the natural focus of scrub typhus in Pinggu district and provides a basis for the prevention and control of scrub typhus, but further studies are needed to investigate the vector effect of other species of chigger mites.
LI Gui-chang, WANG Yu-jiao, MU Qun-zheng, XIA Qing, LI Dong-mei, YUE Yu-juan, LU Liang, ZHAO Ning, LI Wen, SONG Xiu-ping, WANG Jun, WU Hai-xia, LI Xing-zhou, LIU Qi-yong
. An investigation of the hosts, vectors, and pathogens of scrub typhus in Pinggu natural focus of Beijing, China[J]. Chinese Journal of Vector Biology and Control, 2021
, 32(3)
: 291
-297
.
DOI: 10.11853/j.issn.1003.8280.2021.03.007
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