Investigation of Transovarial Transmission of Bartonella henselae in Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato Ticks Using Artificial Feeding

Abstract

Bartonella henselae is a slow-growing, Gram-negative bacterium that causes cat scratch disease in humans. A transstadial transmission of the bacteria from larvae to nymphs of Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato (s.l.) ticks, suspected to be a potential vector of the bacteria, has been previously demonstrated. The present study aims to investigate transovarial transmission of B. henselae from R. sanguineus s.l. adults to their instars. Adult ticks (25 males and 25 females) were fed through an artificial feeding system on B. henselae-infected goat blood for 14 days, and 300 larvae derived from the experimentally B. henselae-infected females were fed on noninfected goat blood for 7 days. Nested PCR and culture were used to detect and isolate B. henselae in ticks and blood samples. Bartonella henselae DNA was detected in midguts, salivary glands, and carcasses of the semi-engorged adults and pooled tick feces (during feeding and post-feeding periods). After the oviposition period, B. henselae DNA was detected in salivary glands of females (33.3%), but not in pooled eggs or larvae derived from the infected females. However, B. henselae DNA was detected by nested PCR from the blood sample during larval feeding, while no viable B. henselae was isolated by culture. According to our findings, following infected blood meal, B. henselae could remain in the tick midguts, move to other tissues including salivary glands, and then be shed through tick feces with limited persistency. The presence of bacterial DNA in the blood during larval feeding shows the possibility of transovarial transmission of B. henselae in R. sanguineus s.l. ticks.

Bartonella species in dromedaries and ruminants from Lower Shabelle and Benadir regions, Somalia

“…While C. felis fleas are the primary vectors of B. henselae among cats (Chomel et al, 1996), previous studies have shown the potential role of ticks as vectors for this Bartonella species (Cotté et al, 2008;Wechtaisong et al, 2020Wechtaisong et al, , 2021 (Kang et al, 2016). These findings underscore the need for a comprehensive understanding of potential vectors and their role in the epidemiology of Bartonella species among ruminants.…”

Metagenomic profiles of Dermacentor tick pathogens from across Mongolia, using next generation sequencing

“…to replicate within multiple tick species cell lines (Billeter et al, 2009), the ability of Bartonella-infected ticks to transmit Bartonella infection between animal models while feeding (Noguchi, 1926;Reis et al, 2011), and the detection of Bartonella spp. DNA or bacilli in infected tick midgut, salivary glands, and feces (Cotté et al, 2008;Reis et al, 2011;Wechtaisong et al, 2021). Despite these findings, there is still a lack of consensus regarding the ability of ticks to vector Bartonella species.…”

Molecular Survey of Bartonella Species in Stray Cats and Dogs, Humans, and Questing Ticks from Portugal

“…The transovarial and transstadial transmission of B. henselae , B. grahamii , and B. schoenbuchensis have been recently demonstrated [ 56 ], while the transmission of B. birtlesii to susceptible mice, using laboratory-infected I. ricinus , was previously achieved [ 57 ]. Rhipicephalus sanguineus being the most prevalent tick in companion animals, has recently been used in similar studies [ 58 , 59 ] but evidence that this tick species can be the vector of Bartonella sp. is also still missing.…”