Aeromonas, Stanier, 1943

Mendoza-Roldan, Jairo Alfonso, Mendoza-Roldan, Miguel Angel & Otranto, Domenico, 2021, Reptile vector-borne diseases of zoonotic concern, International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife 15, pp. 132-142 : 136-137

3.1.1. Aeromonas

This genus of bacteria is an important pathogen for reptiles and transmission to humans is mainly water-borne (i.e., through contact of wounds and/or ingestion with contaminated water or reptile meat, and wounds produced by reptiles in contact or living in contaminated water) ( Lupescu and Baraitareanu, 2015; Ebani et al., 2008; Miranda et al., 2017). However, macronyssid mites O. natricis ( Fig. 1b ) can be mechanical vectors of Aeromonas hydrophila , mainly in snakes (Camin, 1984; Jacobson et al., 2007; Lupescu and Baraitareanu, 2015). Reptiles develop systemic disease due to Aeromonas spp. , therefore they are not effective reservoirs for these bacteria. Generally, infection occurs after mechanic transmission events such as, trauma, secondary infection of abscesses, mite infestation or stress due to suboptimal environmental conditions ( Lupescu and Baraitareanu, 2015; Thomas et al., 2020). Infection in reptiles may induce systemic disease (i.e., stomatitis, sepsis, pneumonia) or be asymptomatic, acting A. hydrophila as an opportunistic pathogen ( Jacobson et al., 2007). Zoonotic vector-borne risk of infection of A. hydrophila from reptiles is given from previous reports of O. natricis mites infesting humans (Schultz, 1975; Amanatfard et al.,

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2014), causing gastrointestinal symptoms, such as diarrhea, emesis and abdominal pain ( Lupescu and Baraitareanu, 2015).

Figures

Fig. 1. Arthropod vectors associated to reptiles represented by a Podarcis siculus lizard and Tarentola mauritanica gecko and zoonotic pathogens they may transmit. a) Ixodes ricinus tick larva, b) Ophionyssus natricis mite, c) Sergentomyia minuta sand fly, d) Aedes albopictus mosquito. Red lines represent high importance role of transmission, orange line represents medium importance role of transmission, gray line represents mechanical vector and green line represents transmission of nonpathogenic zoonotic microorganisms. Dashed lines represent neglectable knowledge on actual role of vector. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)