Is Mycetoma a Vector-Borne Disease: The First Report on the Detection of Madurella mycetomatis in Ticks

Currently, there is a massive gap the mycetoma knowledge in particular in its epidemiological characteristics, the infection route, the predisposing factors and the host susceptibility. With this background, the present cross-sectional descriptive entomological study was conducted to determine the possible role of arthropod vectors in the transmission of eumycetoma as well as the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) among the villagers towards that in a mycetoma endemic village at Sennar State, Sudan.\n\nThe study showed an abundance of indoors and outdoors arthropod vectors, and that included ticks, mosquitoes, sandflies, cockroaches and houseflies in the studied area. Ticks were more frequent, and they belonged to three genera and four species, and the later included Hyalomma (H.) anatolicum (11.03%), Hyalomma (H.) rufipes (0.67%), Rhipicephalus (R.) everts (73.1%) and Amblyoma (A.) lepidium (15.2%). The different types of the collected arthropod vectors were pooled in groups, and each group was screened for the presence of the Madurella (M.) mycetomatis DNA, the most frequent causative agents of eumycetoma in the studied area. The DNA was extracted, and amplification of the genomic rRNA genes was done by using universal pan fungal primers and specific M. mycetomatis primers. One pool containing R. evertsi DNA samples and one sample of H. Rufipes DNA gave positive results following PCR amplification of the universal fungal positive primers while H. rufipes sample gave positive results for M. mycetomatis using a specific primer. An association between the animals dungs, ticks and mycetoma transmission can be suggested from this study. However, further in-depth studies are needed to verify that.\n\nAuthor summaryMycetoma is a severely neglected tropical disease characterised by painless subcutaneous tumour-like swellings frequently noted in the extremities. There is a massive knowledge gap in transmission, infection route, and historically, it is believed to be associated with minor trauma caused by thorn pricks. This study was designed to determine the possible role of arthropods in mycetoma transmission in an endemic area in Sudan during the cold dry season. Pools of medically important arthropods were screened for mycetoma causative agents using DNA based method. The villagers habits and knowledge on arthropod vectors were examined using a pre-designed questionnaire. The results showed various presences of many arthropod vectors. Ticks were found in high prevalence, and densities in domestic animals found inside houses and the villagers had high contact level with the ticks in comparison to other vectors. The study reports for the first time, the detection of the causative agents of mycetoma in a pool of ticks. More studies on the possible role of ticks in the transmission of mycetoma diseases are badly needed to delineate the possible role of ticks on transmission of mycetoma.