Gap Analysis of the Habitat Interface of Ticks and Wildlife in Mexico.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Lopez Gonzalez CA
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8708601 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:BackgroundBabesiosis is an emerging and potentially zoonotic disease caused by tick-borne piroplasmids of the Babesia genus. New genetic variants of piroplasmids with unknown associations to vectors and hosts are recognized. Data on the occurrence of Babesia spp. in ticks and wildlife widen the knowledge on the geographical distribution and circulation of piroplasmids in natural foci. Questing and rodent-attached ticks, rodents, and birds were screened for the presence of Babesia-specific DNA using molecular methods. Spatial and temporal differences of Babesia spp. prevalence in ticks and rodents from two contrasting habitats of Slovakia with sympatric occurrence of Ixodes ricinus and Haemaphysalis concinna ticks and co-infections of Candidatus N. mikurensis and Anaplasma phagocytophilum were investigated.ResultsBabesia spp. were detected in 1.5 % and 6.6 % of questing I. ricinus and H. concinna, respectively. Prevalence of Babesia-infected I. ricinus was higher in a natural than an urban/suburban habitat. Phylogenetic analysis showed that Babesia spp. from I. ricinus clustered with Babesia microti, Babesia venatorum, Babesia canis, Babesia capreoli/Babesia divergens, and Babesia odocoilei. Babesia spp. amplified from H. concinna segregated into two monophyletic clades, designated Babesia sp. 1 (Eurasia) and Babesia sp. 2 (Eurasia), each of which represents a yet undescribed novel species. The prevalence of infection in rodents (with Apodemus flavicollis and Myodes glareolus prevailing) with B. microti was 1.3 % in an urban/suburban and 4.2 % in a natural habitat. The majority of infected rodents (81.3 %) were positive for spleen and blood and the remaining for lungs and/or skin. Rodent-attached I. ricinus (accounting for 96.3 %) and H. concinna were infected with B. microti, B. venatorum, B. capreoli/B. divergens, Babesia sp. 1 (Eurasia), and Babesia sp. 2 (Eurasia). All B. microti and B. venatorum isolates were identical to known zoonotic strains from Europe. Less than 1.0 % of Babesia-positive ticks and rodents carried Candidatus N. mikurensis or A. phagocytophilum.ConclusionOur findings suggest that I. ricinus and rodents play important roles in the epidemiology of zoonotic Babesia spp. in south-western Slovakia. Associations with vertebrate hosts and the pathogenicity of Babesia spp. infecting H. concinna ticks need to be further explored.
| S-EPMC4874003 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Advances in sequencing technologies have revealed the complex and diverse microbial communities present in ticks (Ixodida). As obligate blood-feeding arthropods, ticks are responsible for a number of infectious diseases that can affect humans, livestock, domestic animals and wildlife. While cases of human tick-borne diseases continue to increase in the northern hemisphere, there has been relatively little recognition of zoonotic tick-borne pathogens in Australia. Over the past 5 years, studies using high-throughput sequencing technologies have shown that Australian ticks harbour unique and diverse bacterial communities. In the present study, free-ranging wildlife (n=203), representing ten mammal species, were sampled from urban and peri-urban areas in New South Wales (NSW), Queensland (QLD) and Western Australia (WA). Bacterial metabarcoding targeting the 16S rRNA locus was used to characterize the microbiomes of three sample types collected from wildlife: blood, ticks and tissue samples. Further sequence information was obtained for selected taxa of interest. Six tick species were identified from wildlife: Amblyomma triguttatum, Ixodes antechini, Ixodes australiensis, Ixodes holocyclus, Ixodes tasmani and Ixodes trichosuri. Bacterial 16S rRNA metabarcoding was performed on 536 samples and 65 controls, generating over 100 million sequences. Alpha diversity was significantly different between the three sample types, with tissue samples displaying the highest alpha diversity (P<0.001). Proteobacteria was the most abundant taxon identified across all sample types (37.3 %). Beta diversity analysis and ordination revealed little overlap between the three sample types (P<0.001). Taxa of interest included Anaplasmataceae, Bartonella, Borrelia, Coxiellaceae, Francisella, Midichloria, Mycoplasma and Rickettsia. Anaplasmataceae bacteria were detected in 17.7% (95/536) of samples and included Anaplasma, Ehrlichia and Neoehrlichia species. In samples from NSW, 'Ca. Neoehrlichia australis', 'Ca. Neoehrlichia arcana', Neoehrlichia sp. and Ehrlichia sp. were identified. A putative novel Ehrlichia sp. was identified from WA and Anaplasma platys was identified from QLD. Nine rodent tissue samples were positive for a novel Borrelia sp. that formed a phylogenetically distinct clade separate from the Lyme Borrelia and relapsing fever groups. This novel clade included recently identified rodent-associated Borrelia genotypes, which were described from Spain and North America. Bartonella was identified in 12.9% (69/536) of samples. Over half of these positive samples were obtained from black rats (Rattus rattus), and the dominant bacterial species identified were Bartonella coopersplainsensis and Bartonella queenslandensis. The results from the present study show the value of using unbiased high-throughput sequencing applied to samples collected from wildlife. In addition to understanding the sylvatic cycle of known vector-associated pathogens, surveillance work is important to ensure preparedness for potential zoonotic spillover events.
| S-EPMC8767321 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundTicks are increasingly acknowledged as significant vectors for a wide array of pathogens in urban environments with reports of abundant tick populations in recreational areas. The study aims to contribute to a better knowledge of the abiotic and biotic factors which impact the ecology of hard ticks in urban and peri-urban habitats in Romania.MethodsQuesting ticks were collected by flagging in seven recreational locations, from four types of habitats in Cluj-Napoca, Romania: parks; gardens; a cemetery; and peri-urban forests. Hedgehogs, birds and micromammals were also sampled and searched for ticks, using standard methods (i.e. torch-based searches, ornithological mist nets, snap-traps, etc.), while vegetation was evaluated on surveyed areas. Data on questing ticks were converted to abundance indices. Mood's median tests were used to assess the relationship between the abiotic and biotic factors and the abundance of questing ticks.ResultsTwo species of questing ticks were found: Ixodes ricinus (96.8%) and Haemaphysalis punctata (3.2%). Ixodes ricinus was also the predominant engorged tick collected from urban wildlife. For I. ricinus the highest mean total abundance index/location (total no. of ticks/100 m2) was recorded in the urban gardens (3.79, 95% CI: ± 1.59) and parks (2.68, 95% CI: ± 0.75), whereas the lowest mean total abundance index was noted in the peri-urban forests (0.06, 95% CI: ± 0.03) and the urban cemetery (0.04, 95% CI: ± 0.02). The adults and nymphs of I. ricinus displayed a bimodal activity pattern, while the larvae showed a unimodal questing behaviour with an autumnal peak. Positive correlations were found between the mean total abundance index and the rise in the daily mean temperature and relative humidity, and between the global abundance of questing ticks and the presence of hedgehogs in the respective locations (P < 0.01).ConclusionsTicks were collected in all the recreational sites surveyed in Cluj-Napoca. Ixodes ricinus was the dominant questing and engorged tick species. Several abiotic and biotic factors shape the ecology of ticks in Cluj-Napoca city, with climate and the local presence of suitable hosts being the most important.
| S-EPMC7501622 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThe agents of spotted fevers in Latin America are Rickettsia rickettsii, R. parkeri, Rickettsia sp. strain Atlantic rainforest, and R. massiliae. In Continental Central America, R. rickettsii remains the only known pathogenic tick-borne rickettsia. In the present study, ticks were collected from wild mammals in natural areas of Belize. Besides providing new data of ticks from Belize, we investigated rickettsial infection in some of these ticks. Our results provide ticks harboring rickettsial agents for the first time in Central America.MethodsBetween 2010 and 2015, wild mammals were lived-trapped in the tropical broadleaf moist forests of central and southern Belize. Ticks were collected from the animals and identified to species by morphological and molecular analysis (DNA sequence of the tick mitochondrial 16S RNA gene). Some of the ticks were tested for rickettsial infection by molecular methods (DNA sequences of the rickettsial gltA and ompA genes).ResultsA total of 84 ticks were collected from 8 individual hosts, as follows: Amblyomma pacae from 3 Cuniculus paca; Amblyomma ovale and Amblyomma coelebs from a Nasua narica; A. ovale from an Eira Barbara; A. ovale, Amblyomma cf. oblongoguttatum, and Ixodes affinis from a Puma concolor; and A. ovale, A. coelebs, A. cf. oblongoguttatum, and I. affinis from two Panthera onca. Three rickettsial agents were detected: Rickettsia amblyommii in A. pacae, Rickettsia sp. strain Atlantic rainforest in A. ovale, and Rickettsia sp. endosymbiont in Ixodes affinis.ConclusionsThe present study provides unprecedented records of ticks harboring rickettsial agents in the New World. An emerging rickettsial pathogen of South America, Rickettsia sp. strain Atlantic rainforest, is reported for the first time in Central America. Besides expanding the distribution of 3 rickettsial agents in Central America, our results highlight the possible occurrence of Rickettsia sp. strain Atlantic rainforest-caused spotted fever human cases in Belize, since its possible vector, A. ovale, is recognized as one of the most important human-biting ticks in the Neotropical region.
| S-EPMC4736261 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundMembers of the order Chlamydiales are known for their potential as human and veterinary bacterial pathogens. Despite this recognition, epidemiological factors such as routes of transmission are yet to be fully defined. Ticks are well known vectors for many other infections with several reports recently describing the presence of bacteria in the order Chlamydiales in these arthropods. Australian wildlife are hosts to an extensive range of tick species. Evidence is also growing that the marsupial hosts these ticks parasitise can also be infected by a number of bacteria in the order Chlamydiales, with at least one species, Chlamydia pecorum, posing a significant conservation threat. In the current study, we investigated the presence and identity of Chlamydiales in 438 ixodid ticks parasitizing wildlife in Australia by screening with a pan-Chlamydiales specific targeting the 16S rRNA gene.ResultsPan-Chlamydiales specific PCR assays confirmed the common presence of Chlamydiales in Australian ticks parasitising a range of native wildlife. Interestingly, we did not detect any Chlamydiaceae, including C. pecorum, the ubiquitous pathogen of the koala. Instead, the Chlamydiales diversity that could be resolved indicated that Australian ticks carry at least six novel Chlamydiales genotypes. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA sequences (663 bp) of these novel Chlamydiales suggests that three of these genotypes are associated with the Simkaniaceae and putatively belong to three distinct novel strains of Fritschea spp. and three genotypes are related to the "Ca. Rhabdochlamydiaceae" and putatively belong to a novel genus, Rhabdochlamydia species and strain, respectively.ConclusionsSequence results suggest Australian wildlife ticks harbour a range of unique Chlamydiales bacteria that belong to families previously identified in a range of arthropod species. The results of this work also suggest that it is unlikely that arthropods act as vectors of pathogenic members of the family Chlamydiaceae, including C. pecorum, in Australian wildlife. The biology of novel Chlamydiales identified in arthropods remain unknown. The pathogenic role of the novel Chlamydiales identified in this study and the role that ticks may play in their transmission needs to be explored further.
| S-EPMC5267465 | biostudies-literature
Project description:During a study to identify zoonotic pathogens in northwestern Mexico, we detected the presence of a rickettsial agent in Dermacentor parumapertus ticks from black-tailed jackrabbits (Lepus californicus). Comparison of 4 gene sequences (gltA, htrA, ompA, and ompB) of this agent showed 99%-100% identity with sequences of Rickettsia parkeri.
| S-EPMC6004873 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Increasing levels of human activity threaten wildlife populations through direct mortality, habitat degradation, and habitat fragmentation. Area closures can improve habitat quality for wildlife, but may be difficult to achieve where tourism or other economic drivers are a priority. Temporal closures that limit human use during specific times of day have potential to increase habitat quality for wildlife, while continuing to provide opportunities for human use. However, the effectiveness of daily temporal closures has not been tested. We assessed how implementation of a temporal road closure affected wildlife movements in Banff National Park. Parks Canada closed a popular 17?km stretch of road between 2000 and 0800?hours to improve habitat quality for wildlife. We assessed the effectiveness of the closure on nine mammal species using three sets of data: remote cameras, road surveys, and grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) GPS data. In all three analyses, wildlife detection rates on the road doubled during the closure while remaining unchanged in reference areas. Our strong and consistent results suggest temporal closures are an important conservation tool that can increase habitat quality for wildlife while minimizing effects on people.
| S-EPMC6405904 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Ticks and tick borne diseases (TBDs) undermine livestock production with considerable economic losses to livestock producers in endemic areas worldwide. Despite the impact of ticks and TBDs in livestock production, there is a paucity of information on ticks and diseases they transmit in Botswana. To address this gap, a cross-sectional study was conducted to determine (i) the seroprevalence of selected tick borne (TB) pathogens and (ii) the diversity and abundance of ixodid ticks among 301 cattle foraging around two protected areas in northern Botswana, differing by the presence or absence of a physical barrier (fence) separating wildlife and livestock. Competitive inhibition enzyme linked immuno-sorbent assay (cELISA) was used to test for Anaplasma spp. infection and Indirect Fluorescence Antibody Test (IFAT) was used to test for Theileria parva, Babesia bovis, and B. bigemina. Ticks were identified morphologically at either genus or species level. Seroprevalence of cattle was found to be 90% for Anaplasma spp., followed by 38.6% for Babesia spp. and 2.4% for T. parva. Except for Babesia spp., comparisons of the seroprevalence of the selected haemoparasites between the two wildlife-livestock interface areas were not significantly different. The overall prevalence of ticks was found to be 73.4% with Amblyomma variegatum being the most abundant (53.1%) followed by Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi (31.7%) and R. (B.) decoloratus (7.7%). Except for Babesia spp., comparisons of the seroprevalence of the selected haemoparasites between the two study areas were not significantly different while comparisons of the burden of tick infestation between the study sites revealed significant difference for A. variegatum and R. evertsi evertsi with both tick infestations higher where there is no barrier. Our work provided baseline data on TBD pathogens and tick infestation in cattle populations exposed to different levels of contact with adjacent buffalo populations. The presence of a veterinary fence did not significantly influence the seroprevalence of the selected TBD pathogens (except for Babesia spp.) but seemed to reduce tick burdens in cattle. Findings from this study can be used for guiding future epidemiological study designs to improve our understanding of ticks and TBDs dynamics in northern Botswana.
| S-EPMC7214809 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Bacterial 16S rRNA metabarcoding targeting the v3-4 hypervariable region of Australia wildlife blood, tick and tissue samples.
| PRJEB46006 | ENA
Project description:Recent studies have shown that ticks harbor Coxiella-like bacteria, which are potentially tick-specific endosymbionts. We recently described the detection of Coxiella-like bacteria and possibly Coxiella burnetii in ticks found from rural areas in Malaysia. In the present study, we collected ticks, including Haemaphysalis bispinosa, Haemaphysalis hystricis, Dermacentor compactus, Dermacentor steini, and Amblyomma sp. from wildlife and domesticated goats from four different locations in Malaysia. Coxiella 16s rRNA genomic sequences were detected by PCR in 89% of ticks tested. Similarity analysis and phylogenetic analyses of the 16s rRNA and rpoB partial sequences were performed for 10 representative samples selected based on the tick species, sex, and location. The findings here suggested the presence of C. burnetii in two samples, each from D. steini and H. hystricis. The sequences of both samples clustered with published C. burnetii sequences. The remaining eight tick samples were shown to harbor 16s rRNA sequences of Coxiella-like bacteria, which clustered phylogenetically according to the respective tick host species. The findings presented here added to the growing evidence of the association between Coxiella-like bacteria and ticks across species and geographical boundaries. The importance of C. burnetii found in ticks in Malaysia warrants further investigation.
| S-EPMC5144871 | biostudies-literature