Zoonotic microorganisms in native and exotic invasive urban small mammals of bamako, Mali

The increase in the incidence of zoonoses underlines the need for monitoring pathogens in wild animals. Recent studies have revealed the circulation of several microorganisms in rodents, in various geographic and environmental contexts, including African urban habitats. However, Mali, a landlocked country of West Africa, was not extensively studied for the circulation of the microorganisms in rodents. And this paucity of information puts the fight against rodent-borne zoonoses at a disadvantage. This is why we aimed through this study to improve knowledge of potentially zoonotic infectious agents carried by rodents in Mali (Bamako). Three hundred and seventy-one small mammal spleen samples taken from captures realized in 2021-2022 were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction. Eleven of them (i.e. 2.96%) were infected by microorganisms (Bartonella spp., Coxiella burnetii and Trypanosoma otospermophili). The most frequently detected microorganisms were Bartonella spp. (2.43%). We identified new genotypes of B. elizabethae (a species involved in some cases of infective endocarditis) and B. mastomydis. We also identified C. burnetii MS type 12, thus showing active circulation of a human-pathogenic genotype of Q fever agent in wild rodents. For the first time in Mali, Trypanosoma otospermophili was identified in a specimen of brown rat Rattus norvegicus.