Skin infectome of patients with a tick bite history

Abstract

IntroductionTicks are the most important obligate blood-feeding vectors of human pathogens. With the advance of high-throughput sequencing, more and more bacterial community and virome in tick has been reported, which seems to pose a great threat to people.MethodsA total of 14 skin specimens collected from tick-bite patients with mild to severe symptoms were analyzed through meta-transcriptomic sequencings.ResultsFour bacteria genera were both detected in the skins and ticks, including Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, Corynebacterium and Propionibacterium, and three tick-associated viruses, Jingmen tick virus (JMTV), Bole tick virus 4 (BLTV4) and Deer tick mononegavirales-like virus (DTMV) were identified in the skin samples. Except of known pathogens such as pathogenic rickettsia, Coxiella burnetii and JMTV, we suggest Roseomonas cervicalis and BLTV4 as potential new agents amplified in the skins and then disseminated into the blood. As early as 1 day after a tick-bite, these pathogens can transmit to skins and at most four ones can co-infect in skins.DiscussionAdvances in sequencing technologies have revealed that the diversity of tick microbiome and virome goes far beyond our previous understanding. This report not only identifies three new potential pathogens in humans but also shows that the skin barrier is vital in preventing horizontal transmissions of tick-associated bacteria or virus communities to the host. It is the first research on patients’ skin infectome after a tick bite and demonstrates that more attention should be paid to the cutaneous response to prevent tick-borne illness.

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus infection shapes gut microbiome of the tick vector Haemaphysalis longicornis

“…Corynebacterium is a Gram-positive bacterium that has been identified in the skin of tick-bite patients and associated ticks through transcriptome sequencing [ 25 ]. Similarly, Arthrobacter is another Gram-positive bacterium, has been identified in field-collected Haemaphysalis ticks in our previous study [ 26 ].…”

Prokaryotic and eukaryotic skin microbiota modifications triggered by Leishmania infection in localized Cutaneous Leishmaniasis

“…In the case of the Acinetobacter genus, where our study showed a weak association between abundance values and changes in parasite load (Fig 5), it is essential to consider that certain members of this genus, such as Acinetobacter baumannii, are clinically significant pathogens due to their antibiotic resistance profile. Additionally, they have been identified as prevalent components of bacterial communities on the skin associated with arthropod bites [84][85][86]. Hence, upcoming studies should focus on isolating this genus from CL ulcers, examining its antimicrobial resistance profile, and thoroughly assessing its role in various aspects of the disease's pathogenesis.…”

The infection kinetics and transmission potential of two Guaico Culex viruses in Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes

“…These include Jingmen tick virus (JMTV) ( Qin et al., 2014 ), Mogiana tick virus (MGTV) ( Pascoal et al., 2019 ), Alongshan virus (ALSV) ( Wang et al., 2019 ), Guaico Culex virus (GCXV) ( Ladner et al., 2016 ), Mole Culex virus (MoCV) ( Pauvolid-Correa et al., 2016 ), Wuhan flea virus (WHFV), Wuhan cricket virus (WHCV), Wuhan aphid virus 1 and 2 (WHAV1 and WHAV2), and Shuangao insect virus 7 (SAIV7) ( Shi et al., 2016 ). Importantly, tick-borne jingmenviruses, including JMTV and ALSV, have been detected in human samples obtained from individuals bitten by ticks in Kosovo and China, underscoring their significant importance in public health ( Emmerich et al., 2018 ; Jia et al., 2019 ; Wang et al., 2019 ; Zhang et al., 2023 ).…”