Investigation of Rickettsia spp., Orientia spp. and Borrelia spp. in chigger mites (Trombiculidae and Leeuwenhokiidae) from Brazil

• Grant number: 22/11576-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: January 01, 2024
• Status: Discontinued
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Fernando de Castro Jacinavicius
• Grantee: Isabella Pereira Pesenato
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 25/02786-9 - Detection and characterization of bacterial pathogens in chigger mites (Trombiculidae and Leeuwenhoekiidae) using a metagenomic approach, BE.EP.PD

Abstract

Chigger is the popular name for the larval stage of mites in the family Trombiculidae s. l., which parasitize vertebrates and can cause a skin reaction in the host, known as trombiculiasis. In Brazil, only 74 species are known, and for many of them, there is only a single record of locality and host. In the Asia-Pacific region, some species of this family are vectors of Tsutsugamushi or rural typhus, a human rickettsial disease caused by the Orientia tsutsugamushi bacteria. In addition to this bacterium, other pathogens such as Rickettsia spp. and Borrelia spp. have been detected in trombiculid mites in several places around the world. For Brazil, Rickettsia felis-like was detected in Blankaartia sinnamaryi collected from birds, as well as Ca. Rickettsia colombianensi in Trombewingia bakeri. In the Neotropical region, chigger mites are poorly studied and there are gaps in their actual role as pathogen vectors. National and international collections will be consulted and specimens preserved in tissue banks will be examined by molecular biology for pathogen detection, and the sequences generated will be deposited in gene banks. Considering the lack of knowledge of the distribution of the species that occur in this continental-sized country, and that there are indications of the possibility that the larvae participate in the transmission of pathogens, the investigative analysis of Rickettsiaceae and bacteria of the genus Borrelia in this group of mites in Brazil becomes relevant.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

BASSINI-SILVA, RICARDO; PESENATO, ISABELLA PEREIRA; DE AQUINO, CARLOS ALBERTO QUEIROZ; BATISTA, AKSA INGRID VIEIRA; MOREIRA, ICARO COSTA; DOS SANTOS, WANDERSON LUCAS ALVES; BATISTA, JAEL SOARES; DE OLIVEIRA, MOACIR FRANCO; PEREIRA, JOSIVANIA SOARES; JACINAVICIUS, FERNANDO DE CASTRO. Emerging diseases in poultry: The role of Apolonia tigipioensis Torres and Braga, 1938 (Trombidiformes: Leeuwenhoekiidae) in avian parasitism, including the first record of parasitism in the greater rhea, Rhea americana (L., 1758) (Struthioniformes: Rheidae). VETERINARY PARASITOLOGY- REGIONAL STUDIES AND REPORTS, v. 57, p. 4-pg., 2025-01-01. (24/01231-0, 22/11576-0, 20/11755-6, 19/19853-0)

DE ALMEIDA, BEATRIZ ROCHA; JACINAVICIUS, FERNANDO DE CASTRO; PESENATO, ISABELLA PEREIRA; DORNELAS JR, LEORMANDO FORTUNATO; WELBOURN, CAL; OCHOA, RONALD; CAMARGO, LUIS MARCELO ARANHA; BARROS-BATTESTI, DARCI MORAES; BASSINI-SILVA, RICARDO. Redescription of the species Hooperella saccopteryx (Brennan and Jones, 1960) (Trombidiformes: Trombiculidae) and first record to Brazil. ACAROLOGIA, v. 64, n. 4, p. 9-pg., 2024-01-01. (20/11755-6, 22/11576-0, 24/01231-0, 23/09381-9, 19/19853-0)

PESENATO, ISABELLA PEREIRA; BASSINI-SILVA, RICARDO; JACINAVICIUS, FERNANDO DE CASTRO. A review on trombiculiasis: An underreported parasitosis that affects humans and animals, including world distribution, clinical findings, associated pathogens, prophylaxis and identification methods. Acta Tropica, v. 260, p. 10-pg., 2024-10-09. (20/11755-6, 22/11576-0, 24/01231-0)