Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection in moose (Alces alces) in Norway

Pūraitė, Irma; Rosef, Olav; Paulauskas, Algimantas; Radzijevskaja, Jana

doi:10.1016/j.micinf.2015.09.013

Cited by 13 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Both animals died from septicemic infections with bacteria regarded as opportunistic pathogens (Jenkins et al., 2001; Stuen et al., 2001a). A possible effect of A. phagocytophilum infections on the body weights of lamb and moose calves have been suggested (Grøva et al., 2011; Stuen et al., 2002b; Puraite et al., 2015a). Clinical and hematological reactions depend on the strains of the bacterium involved and the hosts (Stuen et al., 2013b).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The disease is characterized by infected neutrophils, high fever, neutropenia, reduced milk yield, abortion and reduced fertility in domestic sheep (Woldehiwet and Scott, 1993; Stuen et al., 2013b). In Europe, besides domestic ruminants, A. phagocytophilum has been identified in horses ( Equus caballus ) (Silaghi et al., 2011b); in wild ruminants: roe deer ( Capreolus capreolus ) (Alberdi et al., 2000), red deer ( Cervus elaphus ) (Stuen et al., 2013a; Petrovec et al., 2002), moose ( Alces alces ) (Puraite et al., 2015a), fallow deer ( Dama dama ), sika deer ( Cervus nippon ) (Hapunik et al., 2011), chamois ( Rupicapra rupicapra ), Alpine ibex ( Capra ibex ), mouflon ( Ovis musimon ) (Silaghi et al., 2011a), European bison ( Bison bonasus ) (Scharf et al., 2011); in domestic animals: dogs (Egenvall et al., 1997), cats (Heikkilä et al., 2010); in small mammals (rodents and insectivores) (Liz et al., 2000); birds (de la Fuente et al., 2005) and humans (Petrovec et al., 1997; Strle, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Prevalence and co-infection with tick-borne Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Babesia spp. in red deer (Cervus elaphus) and roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in Southern Norway

Ražanskė

Rosef

Radzijevskaja

et al. 2019

International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife

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Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Babesia spp. are causative agents of tick-borne infections that are increasingly considered as a threat to animal and public health. To assess the role of cervids in the maintenance of zoonotic pathogens in Norway, we investigated the prevalence of A. phagocytophilum and Babesia spp. in free-ranging roe deer and red deer. Initial screening of spleen samples of 104 animals by multiplex real-time PCR targeting the major surface protein (msp2) gene and 18S rRNA revealed the presence of A. phagocytophilum infection in 81.1% red deer (Cervus elaphus) and 88.1% roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), and Babesia spp. parasites in 64.9% red deer and 83.6% roe deer, respectively. Co-infections were found in 62.2% red deer and 79.9% roe deer. Nested PCR and sequence analysis of partial msp4 and 18S rRNA genes were performed for molecular characterization of A. phagocytophilum strains and Babesia species. A total of eleven A. phagocytophilum msp4 gene sequence variants were identified: five different variants were 100% identical to corresponding A. phagocytophilum sequences deposited in the GenBank database, while other six sequence variants had unique nucleotide polymorphisms. Sequence analysis of the 18S rRNA gene demonstrated the presence of multiple Babesia species, including Babesia capreoli, Babesia divergens, Babesia venatorum and Babesia odocoilei/Babesia cf. odocoilei. This study is the first report demonstrating the prevalence and molecular characterization of A. phagocytophilum strains and Babesia species in roe deer and red deer in Norway. The high infection and co-infection rates with A. phagocytophilum and Babesia spp. in red deer and roe deer suggest that these cervids may play an important role in the transmission of single and multiple pathogens.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence and co-infection with tick-borne Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Babesia spp. in red deer (Cervus elaphus) and roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in Southern Norway

Ražanskė

Rosef

Radzijevskaja

et al. 2019

International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife

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“…Yet, we do not know much about the potential role of moose as a transmission host of A. phagocytophilum . Seroprevalence for A. phagocytophilum of moose in Norway [22, 23], and infection levels of moose in both Norway [24] and Sweden [21] was reported to be high. However, the ecotype of A. phagocytophilum has only been determined in two moose with no firm conclusion, as one type I and one type II was found (data from [21] reported in [15]).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Infection prevalence and ecotypes of Anaplasma phagocytophilum in moose Alces alces, red deer Cervus elaphus, roe deer Capreolus capreolus and Ixodes ricinus ticks from Norway

et al. 2019

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BackgroundThe geographical expansion of the tick Ixodes ricinus in northern Europe is a serious concern for animal and human health. The pathogen Anaplasma phagocytophilum is transmitted by ticks and causes emergences of tick-borne fever (anaplasmosis) in livestock. The transmission dynamics of the different ecotypes of A. phagocytophilum in the ecosystems is only partly determined. Red deer and roe deer contribute to circulation of different ecotypes of A. phagocytophilum in continental Europe, while the role of moose for circulation of different ecotypes is not fully established but an important issue in northern Europe.MethodsWe determined infection prevalence and ecotypes of A. phagocytophilum in moose (n = 111), red deer (n = 141), roe deer (n = 28) and questing ticks (n = 9241) in Norway.ResultsAs previously described, red deer was exclusively linked to circulation of ecotype I, while roe deer was exclusively linked to circulation of ecotype II. Surprisingly, we found 58% ecotype I (n = 19) and 42% of ecotype II (n = 14) in moose. Both ecotypes were found in questing ticks in areas with multiple cervid species present, while only ecotype I was found in ticks in a region with only red deer present. Hence, the geographical distribution of ecotypes in ticks followed the distribution of cervid species present in a given region and their link to ecotype I and II.ConclusionsMoose probably function as reservoirs for both ecotype I and II, indicating that the ecotypes of A. phagocytophilum are not entirely host-specific and have overlapping niches. The disease hazard depends also on both host abundance and the number of immature ticks fed by each host. Our study provides novel insights in the northern distribution and expansion of tick-borne fever.

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“…It has been suggested that the roe deer mainly acts as a reservoir of several A. phagocytophilum non-pathogenic variants for other animal species (Stuen et al, 2013). Other cervid species in Europe may also constitute efficient reservoir hosts of A. phagocytophilum as the pathogen has been detected in the red deer with up to 87% prevalence, in the fallow deer (Dama dama) with up to 72%, in the sika deer (Cervus nippon) with up to 50%, and in the moose with up to 42.9% (reviewed in Stuen et al, 2013;Pūraitė et al, 2015;Ražanskė et al, 2019).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Molecular characterization of Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection in the cervids and feeding ticks from Lithuania

Radzijevskaja¹,

Snegiriovaitė²,

Kibiša³

et al. 2020

biologija

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Anaplasma phagocytophilum is a bacterial pathogen, which is a major cause of zoonotic disease, anaplasmosis. The main vectors of A. phagocytophilum are ticks of the Ixodes ricinus complex. A. phagocytophilum has a broad geographic distribution and a high degree of biological and clinical diversity. Epidemiological studies in multiple countries have shown that the prevalence of A. phagocytophilum highly depends on the density of ticks and their potential hosts such as the cervids, which are one of the main sources of nutrition for Ixodes ticks. In Lithuania, the cervids are important game animals but their contribution as reservoirs for A. phagocytophilum remains unknown. The objectives of the study were to investigate the prevalence of A. phagocytophilum infections in the cervids and feeding ticks and to characterize the A. phagocytophilum strains obtained from the cervids and ticks based on sequence analysis of msp4 gene. A total of 187 ticks were collected from 44 cervids (roe deer, red deer, and moose) harvested by professional hunters during the hunting seasons of 2010–2013 and 2016–2017 in Lithuania. Blood and spleen samples were collected from 29 animals (27 roe deer and two red deer). A. phagocytophilum DNA was identified in ten (37.04%) of the 27 roe deer. The overall prevalence of A. phagocytophilum in I. ricinus and D. reticulatus ticks was 39.3% (70/178) and 22.2% (2/9) respectively. The sequence analysis of the msp4 gene of A. phagocytophilum revealed nine different sequence types: five msp4 sequence types were detected in ticks and seven in roe deer.

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Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection in moose (Alces alces) in Norway

Cited by 13 publications

References 24 publications

Prevalence and co-infection with tick-borne Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Babesia spp. in red deer (Cervus elaphus) and roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in Southern Norway

Prevalence and co-infection with tick-borne Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Babesia spp. in red deer (Cervus elaphus) and roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in Southern Norway

Infection prevalence and ecotypes of Anaplasma phagocytophilum in moose Alces alces, red deer Cervus elaphus, roe deer Capreolus capreolus and Ixodes ricinus ticks from Norway

Molecular characterization of Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection in the cervids and feeding ticks from Lithuania

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