Fleas of wild mammals carrying pathogenic bacteria in Argentinian Patagonia: a study based on wildlife roadkill

Fleas (Insecta: Siphonaptera) are recognized vectors of bacteria that affect human and other animal health, whose reservoirs are in the majority mammals. Among these, some species of the genera Rickettsia (Rickettsiales: Rickettsiaceae) and Bartonella (Rhizobiales: Bartonellaceae) are emerging and re-emerging throughout the world; however, their circulation across vast regions of Argentina and numerous animal species, particularly wild species, remains largely unknown. The study of wild animal roadkill provides valuable insights into parasitic associations and the presence of pathogenic microorganisms, allowing the generation of a health alert in certain ecosystems. The aim of this study was to describe the diversity of fleas associated with roadkilled wild native meso-mammals in the extreme northeast of Argentinian Patagonia and to detect the presence of Rickettsia and Bartonella bacteria. Five host species were examined, including Chaetophractus villosus Desmarest (Cingulata: Chlamyph..., 2.1 Study area
The study was conducted in the extreme northeast of Río Negro province, Argentinian Patagonia, on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean (Fig. 1; Supplemental Material 1). The natural ecosystem corresponds to the Monte Desert biome (Abraham et al. 2009). The climate is semiarid to arid, with high evaporation enhanced by windy conditions, and mean annual rainfall varies between 100 and 450 mm. The vegetation is rather uniform in terms of physiognomy and flora composition (Abraham et al. 2009; Oyarzabal et al. 2018).
The area covers Provincial Route n°1 between two cities: Viedma (-40.177288 S; -62.9988395 W) with 80,000 inhabitants, and Balneario El Cóndor (-41,0437078 S; -62,8288118 W), an urban entity with less than 2,500 inhabitants, totalling 28 km. Between both cities, xerophytic native flora alternates with semi-extensive livestock (mainly cattle) and farming areas. Also, the progress of urbanization is evident, with the consequent loss of the natural ecosystem, generating ..., # Fleas of wild mammals carrying pathogenic bacteria in Argentinian Patagonia: a study based on wildlife roadkill

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.ghx3ffc1z](10.5061/dryad.ghx3ffc1z)

## Description of the data and file structure

These data were collected to investigate the diversity of fleas parasitizing wild mammals in Argentinian Patagonia and to detect the presence of pathogenic bacteria through molecular screening. Fleas were collected from roadkilled mammals during field surveys, and PCR analyses were performed to detect *Rickettsia* spp. and Bartonella spp. The dataset includes host and flea species identification, collection locality, date, and molecular results.

### Files and variables

#### File: Supplemental_Material_1.csv

**Description:** Details of each flea sample analysed from roadkilled wild meso-mammals collected in Argentine Patagonia. The table includes sampling location, host species, flea species, and the presence/absence of *Rickettsia* and *Bartonella* DNA detected...,