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Tickborne intracellular bacterial pathogens including Anaplasma, Coxiella burnetti, Ehrlichia, and Rickettsia cause emerging infectious diseases worldwide. PCR was used to amplify the genes of these pathogens in Haemaphysalis flava ticks collected from hedgehogs in Central China. Among 125 samples including 20 egg batches, 24 engorged females, and 81 molted male and female adult ticks, the DNA sequences and phylogenetic analysis showed that the minimum infection rate of the ticks was 4% (5/125) for A. bovis, 3.2% (4/125) for C. burnetti, 9.6%, (12/125) for E. ewingii, and 5.6% for Rickettsia including R.japonica (3.2%, 4/125) and R. raoultii (2.4%, 3/125), respectively. The prevalence of these pathogens was significantly higher in dead engorged females (83.3%, 20/24) than in eggs (5%, 1/20) and molted ticks (8.6%, 7/81). Our study indicated that H. flava ticks could be infected with multiple species of tickborne pathogens including Anaplasma, C. burnetti, Ehrlichia, and Rickettsia in Central China, and the prevalence of these pathogens was reduced during transovarial and transstadial transmission in ticks, suggesting that ticks may not be real reservoirs but only vectors for these tickborne pathogens.

Background: Leptospira is the causative agent of leptospirosis, a zoonotic disease of global importance. To have a better understanding on the host species of Leptospira, we investigated the prevalence of Leptospira species in hedgehogs in Central China. Materials and Methods: Hedgehogs were captured in Hubei Province, China in May and October, 2018. Total DNA was extracted from the kidney tissues of hedgehogs for determining the Leptospira species by PCR amplification of the rrs2, secY, and flaB genes with genus-specific primers. Results: PCR amplification indicated that the positive rate of hedgehogs to the rrs2, secY, and flaB genes were 19.5% (8/41), 12.2% (5/41), and 9.8% (4/41), respectively. The homology of the partial sequence of rrs2, secY, and flaB genes were 99.0-100% among the Leptospira strains from hedgehogs. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that Leptospira species detected in this study clustered together with Leptospira interrogans. Conclusions: We detected L. interrogans from hedgehogs in Central China, suggesting hedgehogs are the hosts of L. interrogans.

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