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Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Babesia microti, and Borrelia burgdorferi in Ixodes scapularis, southern coastal Maine.

ABSTRACT: Ixodes scapularis (deer ticks) from Maine were tested for multiple infections by polymerase chain reaction and immunofluorescence. In 1995, 29.5%, 9.5%, and 1.9% of deer ticks were infected with Borrelia burgdorferi, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, and Babesia microti, respectively. In 1996 and 1997, the number of A. phagocytophilum-infected ticks markedly declined. In 1995 through 1996, 4 (1.3%) of 301 were co-infected.

SUBMITTER: Holman MS

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3323092 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Ticks are blood feeding arthropod ectoparasites that transmit pathogens, which cause diseases in humans and animals worldwide. In the past ten decades, the continuous human exploitation of environmental resources and the increase in human outdoor activities has promoted contact with arthropod vectors normally present in the wild, resulting in increased transmission of vector-borne pathogens. In addition, vector populations are expanding in response to climate change and human interventions that impact reservoir host movement and human exposure to infected vectors. Among these emerging vector-borne pathogens, Anaplasma phagocytophilum (Rickettsiales: Anaplasmataceae) has become an important tick-borne pathogen in the United States, Europe and Asia, with increasing numbers of infected people and animals every year. Diseases caused by A. phagocytophilum include human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA), equine and canine granulocytic anaplasmosis and tick-borne fever (TBF) in ruminants. The natural infection cycle of A. phagocytophilum is dependent upon the presence of infected vertebrate reservoir hosts and Ixodid tick vectors. In the United States and Europe the main vector species are Ixodes scapularis, Ixodes pacificus, and Ixodes ricinus, while a wide range of mammals, lizards, and birds serve as reservoir hosts for various A. phagocytophilum genotypes. A. phagocytophilum initially infects tick midgut cells and then subsequently develops in salivary glands for transmission to susceptible hosts during tick feeding where the pathogen infects granulocytic cells, primarily neutrophils. Anaplasma phagocytophilum develops within membrane-bound inclusions in the host cell cytoplasm. This pathogen has evolved with its tick and vertebrate hosts through dynamic processes involving genetic traits of the pathogen and hosts that collectively mediate pathogen infection, development, persistence, and survival. However, the mechanisms used by A. phagocytophilum for molecular mechanisms involved in tick-pathogen interactions have not been fully characterized. The objective of this study is to characterize the dynamics of the microRNA response in the tick vector Ixodes scapularis in response to A. phagocytophilum infection. To address this objective, the composition of tick microRNAs was characterize using RNA sequencing in I. scapularis tick cells in response to A. phagocytophilum infection. The discovery of these mechanisms provides evidence that a control strategy could be developed targeted at both vertebrate and tick hosts for more complete control of A. phagocytophilum and its associated diseases.

Dataset Information

Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Babesia microti, and Borrelia burgdorferi in Ixodes scapularis, southern coastal Maine.

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