BackgroundTick-borne infections are no longer confined to rural areas, they are documented with increasing frequency in urban settlements across the world. They are known to cause diseases in humans as well as in their companion animals.MethodsDuring a period of 2 years, from January 2013 until December 2014, ticks were collected from dogs and cats in 18 veterinary clinics in the Wrocław Agglomeration, Poland. In total, 1455 ticks were found on 931 pets: 760 domestic dogs and 171 cats. For molecular examinations 127 I. ricinus ticks (115 females and 12 males) were randomly selected, all collected I. hexagonus (n = 137, 32 females, 98 nymphs, 7 larvae) and all collected D. reticulatus (n = 46, 31 females, 15 males) were taken. Ixodes ricinus and I. hexagonus ticks were tested for Rickettsia spp., Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis and Babesia spp., while D. reticulatus ticks were investigated for Rickettsia spp. and Babesia spp. only.ResultsIn total, 65.4 % I. ricinus ticks were infected with at least one pathogen. Over 50 % of I. ricinus were positive for Rickettsia spp. (R. helvetica and R. monacensis). The infection level with A. phagocytophilum was 21.3 %. DNA of Cand. N. mikurensis was detected in 8.1 % I. ricinus ticks. Interestingly only female ticks were infected. The prevalence of Babesia spp. was confirmed in 9.0 % of I. ricinus involving the species B. microti and B. venatorum. A total of nineteen double, one triple and two quadruple infections were found in I. ricinus ticks only. Almost 11 % of I. hexagonus ticks were positive for at least one of the tested pathogens. Rickettsia spp. infection was found in 2.2 %, while A. phagocytophilum was detected in 8.1 % of I. hexagonus ticks. Only one nymph was positive for Cand. N. mikurensis and none of I. hexagonus ticks harbored a Babesia spp. Over 60 % of D. reticulatus ticks were positive for rickettsial DNA, exclusively belonging to the species R. raoultii.ConclusionThe high tick infestation rates and the prevalence of pathogens found in these ticks demonstrate a serious level of encounter to tick-borne diseases in urban dogs in the Wroclaw area, and provide evidence that dogs and cats themselves may substantially contribute to the circulation of the ticks and pathogens in the urban area.

Background Borrelia burgdorferi (sensu lato) and rickettsiae of the spotted fever group are zoonotic tick-borne pathogens. While small mammals are confirmed reservoirs for certain Borrelia spp., little is known about the reservoirs for tick-borne rickettsiae. Between 2012 and 2014, ticks were collected from the vegetation and small mammals which were trapped in Saxony, Germany. DNA extracted from ticks and the small mammals’ skin was analyzed for the presence of Rickettsia spp. and B. burgdorferi (s.l.) by qPCR targeting the gltA and p41 genes, respectively. Partial sequencing of the rickettsial ompB gene and an MLST of B. burgdorferi (s.l.) were conducted for species determination.ResultsIn total, 673 small mammals belonging to eight species (Apodemus agrarius, n = 7; A. flavicollis, n = 214; Microtus arvalis, n = 8; Microtus agrestis, n = 1; Mustela nivalis, n = 2; Myodes glareolus, n = 435; Sorex araneus, n = 5; and Talpa europaea, n = 1) were collected and examined. In total, 916 questing ticks belonging to three species (Ixodes ricinus, n = 741; Dermacentor reticulatus, n = 174; and I. trianguliceps, n = 1) were collected. Of these, 474 ticks were further investigated. The prevalence for Rickettsia spp. and B. burgdorferi (s.l.) in the investigated small mammals was 25.3 and 31.2%, respectively. The chance of encountering Rickettsia spp. in M. glareolus was seven times higher for specimens infested with D. reticulatus than for those which were free of D. reticulatus (OR: 7.0; 95% CI: 3.3–14.7; P < 0.001). In total, 11.4% of questing I. ricinus and 70.5% of D. reticulatus were positive for Rickettsia spp. DNA of B. burgdorferi (s.l.) was detected only in I. ricinus (5.5%). Sequence analysis revealed 9 R. helvetica, 5 R. raoultii, and 1 R. felis obtained from 15 small mammal samples.ConclusionSmall mammals may serve as reservoirs for Rickettsia spp. and B. burgdorferi (s.l.). While the prevalence for Rickettsia spp. in M. glareolus is most likely depending on the abundance of attached D. reticulatus, the prevalence for B. burgdorferi (s.l.) in small mammals is independent of tick abundance. Dermacentor reticulatus may be the main vector of certain Rickettsia spp. but not for Borrelia spp.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13071-017-2053-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

BackgroundTick-borne encephalitis (TBE) virus is transmitted to humans and animals through tick bites and is thought to circulate in very strictly defined natural environments called natural foci. The most common tick serving as a vector for the TBE virus in central Europe is Ixodes ricinus; it is rarely found in other tick species and in Dermacentor reticulatus it has, so far, only been reported in Poland.MethodsBetween autumn 2016 and spring 2018 ticks were collected by the flagging method in a new TBE focus in the district of northern Saxony, Germany, outside the known risk areas as defined by the national Robert Koch Institute. Ticks were morphologically identified and tested in pools for the presence of TBE virus using a real-time RT-PCR. TBE virus from positive pools was isolated in A549 cells, and the E gene sequences were determined after conventional RT-PCR, followed by a phylogenetic comparison.ResultsTBE virus was detected in 11 pools, 9 times in flagged adults D. reticulatus (n = 1534; MIR: 0.59%, CI: 0.29–11.3%) and only twice in I. ricinus nymphs (n = 349; MIR: 0.57%, CI: 0.02–2.2%). All other ticks, I. ricinus males (n = 33), females (n = 30) and larvae (n = 58), as well as 5 I. inopinatus (2 females, 3 males) and 14 Haemaphysalis concinna (3 females, 11 nymphs), tested negative for TBE virus. TBE virus was not detected in I. ricinus during the summer, when D. reticulatus is not active. Sequence comparison of the entire E gene of the isolated virus strains resembled each other with only 3 nucleotide differences. The most closely related viral sequences belong to TBE virus strains from Poland and Neustadt an der Waldnaab (county of Neustadt an der Waldnaab, Bavaria), approximately 200 km east and 200 km south-west of the new focus, respectively.ConclusionsTBE virus was found in northern Saxony, Germany, with similar MIRs in D. reticulatus and I. ricinus, indicating that D. reticulatus plays an equal role to I. ricinus in virus circulation when both tick species are sympatric.

BackgroundRodents are important in the life-cycle of ticks as hosts for immature developmental stages. Both rodents and ticks are of public health interest as they are reservoirs and vectors for different tick-borne pathogens (TBP). The aim of this study was to reassess the prevalence of TBP in previously studied areas of the city of Leipzig (Saxony, Germany).MethodsIn the years 2015–2017 rodents and ticks were collected in parks and forest areas in Saxony. DNA was extracted from the rodents, attached and questing ticks. Samples were screened for the presence of Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Babesia spp., Borrelia burgdorferi (s.l.), “Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis” (CNM), Bartonella spp., Hepatozoon spp. and Rickettsia spp. using PCR methods. Rodent, attached nymph and questing tick (nymph and adult) samples were tested individually, while attached larvae were further processed in pools.ResultsA total of 165 rodents (Apodemus agrarius, n = 1; A. flavicollis, n = 59; Arvicola terrestris, n = 1; Myodes glareolus, n = 104), 1256 attached ticks (Ixodes ricinus, n = 1164; Dermacentor reticulatus, n = 92) and 577 questing ticks (I. ricinus, n = 547; D. reticulatus, n = 30) were collected. The prevalence levels in rodents were 78.2% for Bartonella spp., 58.2% for CNM, 49.1% for B. burgdorferi (s.l.) 29.1% for Rickettsia spp. and 24.2% for Hepatozoon spp. The minimal infection rates (MIR) in attached larvae ticks were 39.8% for Rickettsia spp., 32.7% for Bartonella spp., 7.1% for CNM and 8.8% for B. burgdorferi (s.l.) and the prevalence rates in attached nymphs were 33.7% for Bartonella spp., 52.9% for Rickettsia spp., 13.5% for CNM and 11.3% for B. burgdorferi (s.l.) Both rodents and attached ticks were negative for Babesia spp. The prevalence in questing ticks was 18.2% for Rickettsia spp., 7.3% for CNM, 6.4% for B. burgdorferi (s.l.) and 1.4% for Babesia spp. All tested samples were Anaplasma-negative. Sequencing revealed the occurrence of 14 identified species.ConclusionsThis research is the first evaluation of the prevalence for Hepatozoon spp. in rodents from Germany. In comparison to earlier studies, detected pathogens species remained the same; however, the prevalence for particular pathogens differed.