Detection of Ehrlichia spp., Anaplasma spp., Rickettsia spp., and Other Eubacteria in Ticks from the Thai-Myanmar Border and Vietnam

Abstract

A total of 650 ticks, including 13 species from five genera, were collected from animals, from people, or by flagging of the vegetation at sites on the Thai-Myanmar border and in Vietnam. They were tested by PCR to detect DNA of bacteria of the order Rickettsiales. Three Anaplasma spp. were detected in ticks collected in Thailand, including (i) Anaplasma sp. strain AnDa465, which was considered a genotype of Anaplasma platys (formerly Ehrlichia platys) and which was obtained from Dermacentor auratus ticks collected from dogs; (ii) Anaplasma sp. strain AnAj360, which was obtained from Amblyomma javanense ticks collected on a pangolin; and (iii) Anaplasma sp. strain AnHl446, which was closely related to Anaplasma bovis and which was detected in Haemaphysalis lagrangei ticks collected from a bear. Three Ehrlichia spp. were identified, including (i) Ehrlichia sp. strain EBm52, which was obtained from Boophilus microplus ticks collected from cattle from Thailand; (ii) Ehrlichia sp. strain EHh324, which was closely related to Ehrlichia chaffeensis and which was detected in Haemaphysalis hystricis ticks collected from wild pigs in Vietnam; and (iii) Ehrlichia sp. strain EHh317, which was closely related to Ehrlichia sp. strain EBm52 and which was also detected in H. hystricis ticks collected from wild pigs in Vietnam. Two Rickettsia spp. were detected in Thailand, including (i) Rickettsia sp. strain RDla420, which was detected in Dermacentor auratus ticks collected from a bear, and (ii) Rickettsia sp. strain RDla440, which was identified from two pools of Dermacentor larvae collected from a wild pig nest. Finally, two bacteria named Eubacterium sp. strain Hw124 and Eubacterium sp. strain Hw191 were identified in Haemaphysalis wellingtoni ticks collected from chicken in Thailand; these strains could belong to a new group of bacteria.

Epidemiology of Spotted Fever Group and Typhus Group Rickettsial Infection in the Amazon Basin of Peru

“…The partial 17kd and gltA sequences from these Iquitos amplicons were identical or nearly identical to those of other uncharacterized Rickettsia spp. detected in fleas in other parts of the world, namely Egypt, 31 Thailand/Myanmar, 32 and the United States. 30 The relevance of these Rickettsia to the SFGR antibody prevalence observed in our study and to human health in general is unknown.…”

Tick- and flea-borne rickettsial emerging zoonoses

“…As discussed elsewhere, these results have to be considered with caution since serosurvey results can be due to different bacteria but cross-reacting with E. chaffeensis, leading to misinterpretation [105]. DNA fragments closely related to those of E. chaffeensis have been detected by PCR in ticks from Russia [2], China [26,152], Japan [137], and Vietnam [108]. This fact neither conclusively incriminates the corresponding ticks as efficient vectors nor is it evidence of the prevalence of the agent of HME outside the USA.…”

Check list of parasites and bacteria recorded from pangolins (Manis sp.)

“…The bacteria Anaplasma sp. strain AnAj360 associated with the ehrlichioses disease was also detected from the tick Amblyomma javanense collected from Manis javanica (Parola et al 2003). Besides, Aponomma latum, Amblyomma cordiferum, Amblyomma geoemydae, Amblyomma javanense, Amblyomma testudinarium, Dermacentor atrosignatus and Rhipicephalus longus, recorded from pangolins, have also been reported to feed on human (Estrada-Pena and Jongejan 1999; Durden et al 2008;Burridge 2001;Audy et al 1960;Gould et al 1970).…”

“…Jamnah et al (2014) from three African pangolin species (M. temminckii, M. tricuspis, M. gigantea). Ticks were reported to occur underneath the scales and ventral portions of the body in pangolins (Seniviranta 1965;Sanyal et al 1987;Pillai and George 1997;Parola et al 2003;Anonymous 2010;Hafiz et al 2012). Apart from pangolins Amblyomma javanense ticks had been reported from water monitor lizard, python, skink, hill turtle, bat, wild boar, hyena, bear and sambar deer (Kollars and Sithiprasasna 2000;Hassan 2013).…”

“…Similarly Amblyomma compressum recorded Li et al (2010), Kollars and Sithiprasasna (2000) Giant ground pangolin (Manis gigantea) Amblyomma compressum (Macalister 1872) Uilenberg et al (2013) Indian pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) Amblyomma javanense (Supino 1897) Sanyal et al (1987), Nandi (1981), Acharjyo (2013) Aponomma gerviasi (Lucas 1847) Seniviratna (1965), Pillai and George (1997) Rhipicephalus sp. Anonymous (2010) Malayan pangolin (Manis javanica) Amblyomma cordiferum (Neumann 1899) Hafiz et al (2012) Amblyomma javanense (Supino 1897) Kollars and Sithiprasasna (2000), Parola et al (2003), Hafiz et al (2012), Hassan et al (2013) Uilenberg et al (2013) Ixodes rasus (Neumann 1899) Uilenberg et al (2013) Ornithodorus moubata (Murray 1877) Jacobsen et al (1991) Rhipicentor longus Klebsiella aerogenes Heath and Vanderlip (1988) Klebsiella pneumoniae Heath and Vanderlip (1988) Proteus vulgaris Heath and Vanderlip (1988) Pseudomonas fluorescens Heath and Vanderlip (1988) Indian pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) Escherichia coli Narayanan et al (1977) Klebsiella aerogenes Narayanan et al (1977) Proteus vulgaris Narayanan et al (1977) Pseudomonas aeruginosa Narayanan et al (1977) Staphylococcus sp. Narayanan et al (1977) Streptococcus faecalis Narayanan et al (1977) Malayan pangolin (Manis javanica) Mycoplasma sp.…”