Co-Infection and Genetic Diversity of Tick-Borne Pathogens in Roe Deer from Poland

Abstract

Wild species are essential hosts for maintaining Ixodes ticks and the tick-borne diseases. The aim of our study was to estimate the prevalence, the rate of co-infection with Babesia, Bartonella, and Anaplasma phagocytophilum, and the molecular diversity of tick-borne pathogens in roe deer in Poland. Almost half of the tested samples provided evidence of infection with at least 1 species. A. phagocytophilum (37.3%) was the most common and Bartonella (13.4%) the rarest infection. A total of 18.3% of all positive samples from roe deer were infected with at least 2 pathogens, and one-third of those were co-infected with A. phagocytophilum, Bartonella, and Babesia species. On the basis of multilocus molecular studies we conclude that: (1) Two different genetic variants of A. phagocytophilum, zoonotic and nonzoonotic, are widely distributed in Polish roe deer population; (2) the roe deer is the host for zoonotic Babesia (Bab. venatorum, Bab. divergens), closely related or identical with strains/ species found in humans; (3) our Bab. capreoli and Bab. divergens isolates differed from reported genotypes at 2 conserved base positions, i.e., positions 631 and 663; and (4) this is the first description of Bart. schoenbuchensis infections in roe deer in Poland. We present 1 of the first complex epidemiological studies on the prevalence of Babesia, Bartonella, and A. phagocytophilum in naturally infected populations of roe deer. These game animals clearly have an important role as reservoir hosts of tick-borne pathogens, but the pathogenicity and zoonotic potential of the parasite genotypes hosted by roe deer requires further detailed investigation.

Clinical and molecular features of one case of human infection with <i>Anaplasma phagocytophilum</i> from Podlaskie Province in eastern Poland

“…In the current case, amplification of partial sequences from the 16S rRNA and groESL gens, DNA sequencing and phylogenetic analysis provided reliable evidence of anaplasmosis due to the human strain of A. phagocytophilum. It is well known that the zoonotic pathogen of A. phagocytophilum has a high degree of biological and clinical diversity; some of strains/variants are pathogenic in both humans and animals, while others only for animals [11,24].…”

“…In Europe, populations of I. ricinus, the main vector of A. phagocytophilum from the zoonotic reservoir, are infected to a variable extent, approximately from 4% -67% [10]. Quite recently, the presence of a strain or genetic variants of A. phagocytophilum pathogenic for humans and animal zoonotic reservoirs has been revealed in I. ricinus ticks and roe deer populations in from Poland [11]. To-date, a few cases of infection with A. phagocytophilum through blood transfusion have been reported [12], as well as sporadic cases of nosocomial and perinatal transmission [13,14].…”

The role of companion animals in the environmental circulation of tick-borne bacterial pathogens

“…In addition to the occurrence of the pathogen in dogs, it has also been reported in diverse forms of wildlife in Poland, e.g., roe deer [53] and wild cervids [54]. Even though this aspect is not examined very often within the canine or feline population, there is a clear risk of infection by frequently reported A. phagocytophilum-positive I. ricinus ticks in Poland.…”

A retrospective serological survey on human babesiosis in Belgium

“…B. microti is a natural parasite of microtine rodents and occurs mainly in the United States. However, a case of autochthonous B. microti infection has been confirmed in a German patient with an acute myeloid leukaemia [7], and serological evidence of human B. microti infections in a number of different European countries has been reported ( Table 1) [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23].…”