Search

Bovine babesiosis is a global tick-borne disease that causes important cattle losses and has potential zoonotic implications. The impact of bovine babesiosis in Turkey remains poorly characterized, but several Babesia spp., including B. bovis, B. bigemina, and B. divergens, among others and competent tick vectors, except Rhipicephalus microplus, have been recently identified in the country. Bovine babesiosis has been reported in all provinces but is more prevalent in central and highly humid areas in low and medium altitude regions of the country housing approximately 70% of the cattle population. Current control measures include acaricides and babesicidal drugs, but not live vaccines. Despite the perceived relevant impact of bovine babesiosis in Turkey, basic research programs focused on developing in vitro cultures of parasites, point-of-care diagnostic methods, vaccine development, “omics” analysis, and gene manipulation techniques of local Babesia strains are scarce. Additionally, no effective and coordinated control efforts managed by a central animal health authority have been established to date. Development of state-of-the-art research programs in bovine babesiosis to address current gaps in knowledge and implementation of long-term plans to control the disease will surely result in important economic, nutritional, and public health benefits for the country and the region.

This study was carried out to investigate the molecular prevalence of Francisella-like endosymbionts (FLEs) and Francisella tularensis in ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) and mosquitoes in Turkey. Genomic DNA pools were constructed from a total of 1477 adult hard ticks of Rhipicephalus (Rh.) annulatus, Rh. turanicus, Rh. sanguineus, Rh. bursa, Haemaphysalis (Hae.) parva, Hae. sulcata, Hyalomma marginatum marginatum, H. anatolicum anatolicum, H. anatolicum excavatum, H. detritum detritum, H. dromedarii, Dermacentor marginatus, and Ixodes ricinus species, which were collected from several barns, cattle, and people. Genomic DNA was also extracted from pools consisting of 6203 adult female mosquito species belonging to Aedes vexans, Culex (Cx.) pipiens, Cx. hortensis, Cx. theileri, Culiseta annulata, and Anopheles maculipennis species. Conventional PCR and TaqMan probe-based real- time PCR targeting the 16S rRNA gene for FLEs and the lpnA gene for F. tularensis, respectively, were performed on the DNA isolates obtained. FLEs and F. tularensis were not found in any genomic DNA pools constructed from ixodid ticks and mosquitos. This study represents the first investigation of F. tularensis and FLEs in potential vector ticks and mosquitoes by molecular methods in Turkey. The present study provides useful insights into the molecular epidemiology of F. tularensis and FLEs. One of the major conclusions of the study is that tularemia outbreaks may be essentially due to direct transmission from the environment (especially from water) in Turkey and not to vector-borne transmission.

Assessing vector-parasite relationship is important in understanding the emergence of vector-borne diseases and the evolution of parasite diversity. This study investigates avian Plasmodium parasites in mosquitoes collected from Kayseri province in Central Anatolian, Turkey and determines the haemosporidian parasite lineages from these mosquito species. A total of 6153 female mosquitos from 6 species were collected from 46 sites during June-August of 2008 and 2009. Each mosquito's head-thorax and abdomen were separated, categorized with respect to species and collection area and pooled for DNA extraction. A total of 1198 genomic DNA pools (599 thorax-head, 599 abdomen) were constituted of which 128 pools (59 thorax-head, 69 abdomen) were positive for avian haemosporidian parasites (Plasmodium and Haemoproteus) by Nested-PCR analysis. Culex pipens, Aedes vexans, Culex theileri and Culiseta annulata were positive with minimum infection rates (MIRs) of 16.22 and 18.15, 4.72 and 5.98, 5.18 and 10.36, 10.64 and 10.64 in their thorax-head and abdomen parts, respectively. No avian haemosporidian DNA was detected from Culex hortensis and Anopheles maculipennis. Phylogenetic analyses of the partial cytb gene of avian haemosporidian mt-DNA from 13 positive pools revealed that 11 lineages in four phylogenic groups were Plasmodium and the other two were Haemoproteus. Our results suggest that Cx pipiens could probably be the major vector of avian Plasmodium in Central Turkey. This is the first report of molecular detection and characterization of avian Plasmodium lineages from mosquitoes in Turkey. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

This study was carried out to investigate the potential vectors and relative mosquito infection rates of Dirofilaria immitis throughout two mosquito seasons (2008-2009) in Kayseri province where is located in Central Anatolian part of Turkey. For this aim, totally 1198 genomic DNA pools, extracted and grouped according to the species and collection site (1-17 specimens/pool) from 6153 mosquito specimens, were examined by PCR using species-specific primers for D. immitis. The captured mosquitoes from 46 focuses were survived under in vitro conditions for 7 days to allow the development of larval stages of D. immitis. DNA extraction was performed individually to both thorax-head and abdomens in order to determine infective and infected mosquito specimens, respectively. The most abundant mosquito species in the study area was determined as Ae. vexans (51.7%) and this was followed by Cx. pipiens (42.1%), Cx. theileri (3.1%), Cs. annulata (1.5%), An. maculipennis (1.0%) and Cx. hortensis (0.6%). The PCR results indicated that 9/312 and 12/312 pools from Ae. vexans abdomens and thorax-heads were positive for filarial DNAs, respectively where as 3/241 pools of each abdomens and thorax-heads from Cx. pipiens were positive for D. immitis DNAs. The minimum infection rates (MIRs) for Ae. vexans and Cx. pipiens were calculated as 0.41 and 0.12, respectively. Although D. immitis DNA's were found in both pools from Ae. vexans and Cx. pipiens, the calculated MIRs provide evidence that Ae. vexans could be the main potential vector of D. immitis in Kayseri. (c) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.