Diversity ofAnaplasmaspecies and importance of mixed infections in roe deer from Spain

Abstract

Although wildlife can act as reservoirs of some Anaplasma species, studies on the presence and distribution of Anaplasma spp. in wild cervids are mainly limited and focused on zoonotic species. In order to identify the Anaplasma species in roe deer from Spain and to detect co-infections, 224 spleen samples were tested for Anaplasma spp. using a commercial qPCR; positive samples were further characterized using generic 16S rRNA primers and species-specific primers targeting the msp2 and groEL genes.Anaplasma DNA was detected in the 50.9% of samples, and four Anaplasma species were identified. Anaplasma phagocytophilum (43.8%) was predominant, followed by Anaplasma bovis (13.8%), Anaplasma capra (5.8%) and Anaplasma ovis (2.2%). In addition, strains similar to Anaplasma platys were found in nine animals. Most positive roe deer (71.9%) were infected with a single Anaplasma species, whereas co-infections with two (19.3%) or three (8.8%) Anaplasma species were also found. This study confirms the widespread occurrence of Anaplasma spp. in roe deer from Spain, being the first report of A. platys-like strains and A. capra in this cervid; it is also the first report of A. capra in Spain. The detection of Anaplasma species pathogenic for humans and/or domestic animals in roe deer suggests that this cervid may play a role in the sylvatic cycle of these bacteria contributing to the appearance of clinical anaplasmosis cases. In addition, co-infections are common in roe deer revealing that Anaplasma species specific PCR assays are essential for a reliable identification as well as for determining their real prevalence.

Tick‐borne pathogens in ticks from urban and suburban areas of north‐western Spain: Importance of Ixodes frontalis harbouring zoonotic pathogens

“…mongolitimonae are the etiological agents of the MSF‐like (Oteo & Portillo, 2012). Anaplasma phagocytophilum was not detected in the studied tick population agreeing with previous studies reporting a low prevalence in I. ricinus (0.4%) in woodland areas from the same region (Remesar, Prieto, et al, 2021). Regarding the novel Rickettsia spp., further studies are needed for completing their characterization and for evaluating their pathogenicity.…”

Molecular Detection of Tick-Borne Bacterial and Protozoan Pathogens in Haemaphysalis longicornis (Acari: Ixodidae) Ticks from Free-Ranging Domestic Sheep in Hebei Province, China

“…The following supporting information can be downloaded at: , Table S1. Primers for the amplification of sequences of ticks and tick-borne pathogens [ 13 , 33 , 53 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 ]; Supplementary Data. The electrophoretic detection of amplification of tick-borne pathogens PCR products on agarose gel.…”

Anaplasma, Bartonella, and Rickettsia infections in Daurian ground squirrels (Spermophilus dauricus), Hebei, China

“…Anaplasma capra was first confirmed to be a human pathogen in 2015 ( Li et al, 2015 ) and has been mainly identified in livestock based on sequences deposited in GenBank and previous studies ( Guo et al, 2018 ; Amer et al, 2019 ; He et al, 2021 ; Remesar et al, 2022 ; Sahin et al, 2022 ). In this study, only one partial 16S rRNA sequence was obtained, and we conjectured that this may have resulted from a low bacterial load or DNA degradation by some enzymes in the host.…”