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Prevalence of tick-borne pathogens in Ixodes ricinus and Dermacentor reticulatus ticks from different geographical locations in Belarus.
- Source :
-
PloS one [PLoS One] 2013; Vol. 8 (1), pp. e54476. Date of Electronic Publication: 2013 Jan 22. - Publication Year :
- 2013
-
Abstract
- Worldwide, ticks are important vectors of human and animal pathogens. Besides Lyme Borreliosis, a variety of other bacterial and protozoal tick-borne infections are of medical interest in Europe. In this study, 553 questing and feeding Ixodes ricinus (n = 327) and Dermacentor reticulatus ticks (n = 226) were analysed by PCR for Borrelia, Rickettsia, Anaplasma, Coxiella, Francisella and Babesia species. Overall, the pathogen prevalence in ticks was 30.6% for I. ricinus and 45.6% for D. reticulatus. The majority of infections were caused by members of the spotted-fever group rickettsiae (24.4%), 9.4% of ticks were positive for Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, with Borrelia afzelii being the most frequently detected species (40.4%). Pathogens with low prevalence rates in ticks were Anaplasma phagocytophilum (2.2%), Coxiella burnetii (0.9%), Francisella tularensis subspecies (0.7%), Bartonella henselae (0.7%), Babesia microti (0.5%) and Babesia venatorum (0.4%). On a regional level, hotspots of pathogens were identified for A. phagocytophilum (12.5-17.2%), F. tularensis ssp. (5.5%) and C. burnetii (9.1%), suggesting established zoonotic cycles of these pathogens at least at these sites. Our survey revealed a high burden of tick-borne pathogens in questing and feeding I. ricinus and D. reticulatus ticks collected in different regions in Belarus, indicating a potential risk for humans and animals. Identified hotspots of infected ticks should be included in future surveillance studies, especially when F. tularensis ssp. and C. burnetii are involved.
- Subjects :
- Anaplasma isolation & purification
Anaplasma pathogenicity
Anaplasma phagocytophilum isolation & purification
Anaplasma phagocytophilum pathogenicity
Animals
Babesia isolation & purification
Babesia pathogenicity
Borrelia burgdorferi Group isolation & purification
Borrelia burgdorferi Group pathogenicity
Dermacentor pathogenicity
Dermacentor virology
Europe
Francisella tularensis isolation & purification
Francisella tularensis pathogenicity
Humans
Ixodes virology
Republic of Belarus
Rickettsia isolation & purification
Rickettsia pathogenicity
Tick-Borne Diseases virology
Ticks pathogenicity
Ixodes pathogenicity
Tick-Borne Diseases classification
Tick-Borne Diseases epidemiology
Ticks virology
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1932-6203
- Volume :
- 8
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- PloS one
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 23349900
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0054476