CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Haematophagous ectoparasites are worldwide vectors of many zoonotic bacterial diseases,both emerging and re-emerging, whose incidences are rising. Livestock development alters differentenvironmental characteristics such as the microclimate of a site, changing the availability, densityand susceptibility of the hosts to pathogens and vectors, indirectly influencing the spread andpersistence of a disease within an ecosystem. The Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus), the mostabundant vertebrate pest species found on livestock farms from Argentina, is a reservoir for severalimportant zoonotic bacteria and may harbor ectoparasite species, which act as their vectors. Eventhough the Norway rat is widely known for its role as an ectoparasite host, the ecologicalcharacteristics of their ectoparasite communities and the related factors with parasitism on livestockfarms have never been described. In the present study, we describe the ectoparasite community inNorway rats from central Argentina livestock farms, while also depicting the influencing factors onboth ectoparasite occurrence and abundance. Ectoparasites were collected from rats captured in 20sites from Buenos Aires province, between the winter of 2016 and the summer of 2018. A total of1441 ectoparasite individuals were collected from 159 Norway rat individuals [Total ectoparasiteprevalence = 69.2%; Mean ectoparasite specimen abundance (± CI) = 9.06 ± 2.32 ectoparasiteindividuals per rat; Mean ectoparasite specimen intensity (± CI) = 13.10 ± 3.08 ectoparasiteindividuals per infested rat found]. Ectoparasite assemblage consisted of four cosmopolitan species,recognized for their sanitary relevance: mites (Laelapidae: Laelaps nuttalli and Laelaps echidninus),lice (Polyplacidae: Polyplax spinulosa) and fleas (Pulicidae: Xenopsylla cheopis). We observedhigher Norway rat abundance in sites related to higher ectoparasite occurrence and abundancefrequencies on the rats. Additionally, ectoparasites were more abundant on rats in warm seasons andon male individuals, over female rats. Moreover, the geographical location of the studied sitesinfluenced the ectoparasite assemblage structure observed on the rats. This study broadens theknowledge on the role of Norway rats as zoonotic ectoparasites hosts and analyzes the driversinfluencing ectoparasite occurrence and abundance on the most populated region of Argentina,

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