Pathogens vectored by the tick, Dermacentor reticulatus, in endemic regions and zones of expansion in Poland

Abstract

BackgroundDermacentor reticulatus plays an important role in the maintenance of pathogens of medical and veterinary importance in the environment. Currently two isolated populations of D. reticulatus are present in Poland –Western and Eastern. The range of the Eastern population covers endemic areas in eastern Poland but this population is expanding westwards creating an expansion zone in the centre of the country. The expansion zone in western Poland is occupied by the recently discovered Western population, spreading eastwards.MethodsQuesting adult ticks (n = 2585) were collected in 2012–2014 in endemic regions of north-eastern (Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship) and central Poland (Masovian Voivodeship) and in the expansion zones in central and western Poland, in the region between the Vistula River and the western border of the country. Amplification of Babesia, Rickettsia spp. and Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato DNAs was performed using specific starters. RNA of the TBE virus was detected using RT-PCR and representative PCR products were sequenced and compared with sequences deposited in GenBank.ResultsOf the total 2585 examined ticks, 1197 (46.3 %) were infected with at least one pathogen. Overall prevalence of pathogens was 4.18 % (108/2585) for Babesia spp., 44.10 % (1140/2585) for Rickettsia spp., 0.09 % (1/1107) for Borrelia afzelii and 7.6 % (7/92) for TBEV. Sequence analysis of DNA showed 99.86 % similarity to R. raoulti and 99.81 % to B. canis. One male from north-eastern Poland was infected with B. microti.Prevalence of R. raoulti was highest in the Western population (52.03 %) and lowest in the Eastern population in north-eastern Poland (34.18 %). Babesia canis was not detected in 592 ticks collected in the Western population, while in the Eastern population overall prevalence was 5.42 %. There were significant differences in the prevalence of B. canis between tick samples from northern (0.68 %), central (1.18 %) and southern (14.8 %) areas of the expansion zone in central Poland.ConclusionsOur study found significant differences between the range and prevalence of vectored pathogens in D. reticulatus from the endemic areas and newly inhabited expansion zones. The differences were likely associated with the different time of settlement or ‘source’ of ticks populations, the Eastern and the Western one.

Prevalence of infections and co-infections with 6 pathogens in <i>Dermacentor reticulatus</i> ticks collected in eastern Poland

“…and Rickettsia spp. Similarly, a coinfection value 2.8 times lower compared to the current study was reported Mierzejewska et al [30] who examined the Eastern and Western populations of the adult D. reticulatus ticks collected in Poland for the presence of 4 pathogens (Rickettsia spp., Babesia spp., B. burgdorferi s. l., TBEV), and found 3.0% of dual infections in the Eastern population (2.7% of R. raoultii with B. canis, and 0.3% of R. raoultii with TBEV), while in the Western population no such infections were found. The smaller value of co-infections reported also Ionita et al [54], who found that 5.3% of D. reticulatus ticks collected from dogs in Romania, were simultaneously infected with Rickettsia raoultii and Babesia canis.…”

“…The role of this tick species in the transmission of some other pathogens in domestic animals and humans was also confirmed for Babesia caballi, Theileria equi, Anaplasma marginale, and Omsk haemorrhagic fever virus [18]. The role of D. reticulatus as a vector of other pathogens is less known, but seems probable with relevance to TBEV, and less probable with relevance to Francisella tularensis, Coxiella burnetii and Babesia microti [8,18,24,25,[29][30][31]35].…”

“…Nevertheless, D. reticulatus has been demonstrated to harbour various tick-borne pathogens of humans and/or animals, such as tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), Omsk haemorrhagic fever virus, Kemerovo virus, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Anaplasma marginale, Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiae (SFGR), such as Rickettsia raoultii and Rickettsia slovaca, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l. ), Francisella tularensis and Francisella-like endosymbionts, Coxiella burnetii, Bartonella spp., Babesia canis, Babesia caballi, Babesia microti, Babesia divergens, Babesia bigemina, and Theileria equi [7,8,[18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32].…”

Autochthonous Babesia canis, Hepatozoon canis and imported Babesia gibsoni infection in dogs in the Czech Republic

“…canis is an emerging pathogen in Europe (Solano-Gallego et al 2016) and, in the last decades, has become locally endemic in all countries bordering the Czech Republic. Canine babesiosis is present in localities with established populations of D. reticulatus in Germany (Naucke 2008), Austria (Halos et al 2014;Pantchev et al 2015), Poland (Mierzejewska et al 2015) and Slovakia (Kubelova (Beijing SBS Genetech, China). PCR products from the second run of nested piroplasmid PCR and from Hepatozoon PCR were purified (Gel/PCR DNA Fragment Extraction Kit, Geneaid Biotech, Taiwan) and subjected to sequencing using the amplification primers (Macrogen Europe, the Netherlands).…”

Over 20 years of research on canine babesiosis at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of WULS-SGGW in Warsaw

“…U psów stwierdzono dotychczas występowanie 6 gatunków, takich jak: Babesia canis, B. vogeli, B. rossi (określa-ne jako duże babeszje), B. gibsoni, B. conradae oraz B. vulpes (określane jako małe babeszje) (11,24). Obecnie wiadomo, że w Polsce endemicznie wystę-puje jedynie gatunek B. canis określany wcześniej jako B. canis canis (3,4,13,15,44). Pies, podobnie jak inne ssaki, u których występuje babeszjoza, jest żywicielem pośrednim tych pierwotniaków, natomiast żywicielem ostatecznym są kleszcze z rodziny Ixodidae.…”