Yersinia pestis is a historically important vector-borne pathogen causing plague in humans and other mammals. Contemporary zoonotic infections with Y. pestis still occur in sub-Saharan Africa, including Tanzania and Madagascar, but receive relatively little attention. Thus, the role of wildlife reservoirs in maintaining sylvatic plague and spillover risks to humans is largely unknown. The multimammate rodent Mastomys natalensis is the most abundant and widespread rodent in peri-domestic areas in Tanzania, where it plays a major role as a Y. pestis reservoir in endemic foci. Yet, how M. natalensis’ immunogenetics contributes to the maintenance of plague has not been investigated to date. Here, we surveyed wild M. natalensis for Y. pestis vectors, i.e., fleas, and tested for the presence of antibodies against Y. pestis using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) in areas known to be endemic or without previous records of Y. pestis in Tanzania. We characterized the allelic and functional (i.e., supertype) diversity of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC class II) of M. natalensis and investigated links to Y. pestis vectors and infections. We detected antibodies against Y. pestis in rodents inhabiting both endemic areas and areas considered non-endemic. Of the 111 nucleotide MHC alleles, only DRB*016 was associated with an increased infestation with the flea Xenopsylla. Surprisingly, we found no link between MHC alleles or supertypes and antibodies of Y. pestis. Our findings hint, however, at local adaptations towards Y. pestis vectors, an observation that more exhaustive sampling could unwind in the future.

鼠疫耶尔森氏菌是历史上重要的媒介传播病原体，在人类和其他哺乳动物中引起鼠疫。鼠疫耶尔森菌当代人畜共患感染仍然发生在撒哈拉以南非洲地区，包括坦桑尼亚和马达加斯加，但受到的关注相对较少。因此，野生动物水库在维持森林鼠疫和人类溢出风险方面的作用在很大程度上尚不清楚。多乳类啮齿动物Mastomys natalensis是坦桑尼亚周边地区数量最多、分布最广的啮齿动物，在地方性疫源地中作为鼠疫耶尔森氏菌的宿主发挥着重要作用。然而，迄今尚未研究过M. natalensis的免疫遗传学如何促进鼠疫的维持。在这里，我们调查了野生M. natalensis中的鼠疫耶尔森氏菌载体（即跳蚤），并在已知有鼠疫耶尔森氏菌流行或以前没有鼠疫耶尔森氏菌记录的地区使用酶联免疫吸附测定 (ELISA)测试了鼠疫耶尔森氏菌抗体的存在情况。.坦桑尼亚的鼠疫。我们表征了M. natalensis主要组织相容性复合体（MHC II 类）的等位基因和功能（即超型）多样性，并研究了与鼠疫耶尔森菌载体和感染的联系。我们在流行地区和非流行地区的啮齿动物中检测到鼠疫耶尔森氏菌抗体。在 111 个核苷酸的 MHC 等位基因中，只有DRB*016与跳蚤Xenopsylla感染的增加有关。令人惊讶的是，我们发现 MHC 等位基因或超型与鼠疫耶尔森氏菌抗体之间没有联系。然而，我们的发现暗示了鼠疫耶尔森氏菌媒介的局部适应，这一观察结果可能在未来得到更详尽的采样。