Molecular Detection and Characterization of Zoonotic and Veterinary Pathogens in Ticks from Northeastern China

Abstract

Tick-borne diseases are considered as emerging infectious diseases in humans and animals in China. In this study, Ixodes persulcatus (n = 1699), Haemaphysalis concinna (n = 412), Haemaphysalis longicornis (n = 390), Dermacentor nuttalli (n = 253), and Dermacentor silvarum (n = 204) ticks were collected by flagging from northeastern China, and detected for infection with Anaplasma, Ehrlichia, Babesia, and Hepatozoon spp. by using nested polymerase chain reaction assays and sequencing analysis. Anaplasma phagocytophilum was detected in all tick species, i.e., I. persulcatus (9.4%), H. longicornis (1.9%), H. concinna (6.5%), D. nuttalli (1.7%), and D. silvarum (2.3%); Anaplasma bovis was detected in H. longicornis (0.3%) and H. concinna (0.2%); Ehrlichia muris was detected in I. persulcatus (2.5%) and H. concinna (0.2%); Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis was only detected in I. persulcatus (0.4%). The Ehrlichia variant (GenBank access number KU921424), closely related to Ehrlichia ewingii, was found in H. longicornis (0.8%) and H. concinna (0.2%). I. persulcatus was infected with Babesia venatorum (1.2%), Babesia microti (0.6%), and Babesia divergens (0.6%). Additionally, four Babesia sequence variants (GenBank access numbers 862303–862306) were detected in I. persulcatus, H. longicornis, and H. concinna, which belonged to the clusters formed by the parasites of dogs, sheep, and cattle (B. gibsoni, B. motasi, and B. crassa). Two Hepatozoon spp. (GenBank access numbers KX016028 and KX016029) associated with hepatozoonosis in Japanese martens were found in the collected ticks (0.1–3.1%). These findings showed the genetic variability of Anaplasma, Ehrlichia, Babesia, and Hepatozoon spp. circulating in ticks in northeastern China, highlighting the necessity for further research of these tick-associated pathogens and their role in human and animal diseases.

Some aspects on tick species in Mongolia and their potential role in the transmission of equine piroplasms, Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Borrelia burgdorferi L.

“…Its main vectors are Ixodes spp. (Stuen et al 2013) but it has also been found in Haemaphysalis spp., D. nuttalli and D. silvarum in China (Wei et al 2016). In the present study, Anaplasma was not detected in I. persulcatus, most likely due to the small sample size for this tick.…”

Isolation and genomic characterization of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus in ticks from northeastern China

“…Phylogenetic analyses were conducted using the software MEGA 5.0, and multiple sequence alignments were performed using Clustal W. The neighbour‐joining method was used to construct a phylogenetic tree, whose reliability was evaluated by the bootstrapping analysis with 1000 replicates, and the bootstrap value more than 60% was considered significant (Wei et al., ).…”

A Novel Arthropod Host of Brucellosis in the Arid Steppe Ecosystem

“…It causes direct injury to suck blood, which can also cause inflammation and skin allergy, often leading to pruritus in livestock. In addition, it can transmit a variety of infectious diseases (27)(28)(29). During the peak activity seasons of 2015 to 2019, 2,256 ticks were collected using different capturing methods in each site of the project area (Figure 1).…”