Multilocus Sequence Analysis of Clinical “Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis” Strains from Europe

Grankvist, Anna; Moore, Edward R. B.; Stadler, Liselott Svensson; Pekova, Sona; Bogdan, Christian; Geißdörfer, Walter; Grip-Lindén, Jenny; Brandström, Kenny; Marsal, Jan; Andréasson, Kristofer; Lewerin, Catharina; Welinder‐Olsson, Christina; Wennerås, Christine

doi:10.1128/jcm.00880-15

Cited by 20 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Neoehrlichia”, Ehrlichia , and Anaplasma detected in the present study appear to be putative species, as the levels of divergence between their sequences and those of their closest relatives, is within the range of accepted species separation at the 16S rRNA gene loci [ 38 – 41 ]. However, formal descriptions of them as new species will require analysis at multiple loci such as the citrate synthase gene (gltA), RNA polymerase sub-unit β ( rpoB ) and heat shock operon (groESL), or whole genomes [ 27 , 42 – 46 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bacterial Profiling Reveals Novel “Ca. Neoehrlichia”, Ehrlichia, and Anaplasma Species in Australian Human-Biting Ticks

et al. 2015

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In Australia, a conclusive aetiology of Lyme disease-like illness in human patients remains elusive, despite growing numbers of people presenting with symptoms attributed to tick bites. In the present study, we surveyed the microbial communities harboured by human-biting ticks from across Australia to identify bacteria that may contribute to this syndrome. Universal PCR primers were used to amplify the V1-2 hyper-variable region of bacterial 16S rRNA genes in DNA samples from individual Ixodes holocyclus (n = 279), Amblyomma triguttatum (n = 167), Haemaphysalis bancrofti (n = 7), and H. longicornis (n = 7) ticks. The 16S amplicons were sequenced on the Illumina MiSeq platform and analysed in USEARCH, QIIME, and BLAST to assign genus and species-level taxonomies. Nested PCR and Sanger sequencing were used to confirm the NGS data and further analyse novel findings. All 460 ticks were negative for Borrelia spp. by both NGS and nested PCR analysis. Two novel “Candidatus Neoehrlichia” spp. were identified in 12.9% of I. holocyclus ticks. A novel Anaplasma sp. was identified in 1.8% of A. triguttatum ticks, and a novel Ehrlichia sp. was identified in both A. triguttatum (1.2%) ticks and a single I. holocyclus (0.6%) tick. Further phylogenetic analysis of novel “Ca. Neoehrlichia”, Anaplasma and Ehrlichia based on 1,265 bp 16S rRNA gene sequences suggests that these are new species. Determining whether these newly discovered organisms cause disease in humans and animals, like closely related bacteria do abroad, is of public health importance and requires further investigation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bacterial Profiling Reveals Novel “Ca. Neoehrlichia”, Ehrlichia, and Anaplasma Species in Australian Human-Biting Ticks

et al. 2015

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“…Positive PCR results for ‘ Ca. N. mikurensis’ were obtained using EDTA blood (plasma, serum, whole blood, and blood culture flask contents) and bone marrow [47] , [64] , [65] , [66] as human specimens. The microorganism has never been amplified from cerebrospinal fluid samples [64] .…”

Section: Neoehrlichiosis/‘ Ca N Mikurensis’ Infementioning

confidence: 99%

‘ Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis’ in Europe

Portillo

Santibáñez

Palomar

et al. 2018

New Microbes and New Infections

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‘Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis’ is an uncultured emerging bacterium that is provisionally included in the family Anaplasmataceae. In Europe, it is transmitted by Ixodes ricinus ticks. Rodents are the reservoirs. It is widely distributed in mammals (both wild and domestic) and birds. It causes an inflammatory disease in humans with underlying diseases, but the microorganism also affects immunocompetent individuals in which asymptomatic infection has been recognized. A high degree of suspicion and the use of molecular tools are needed for the correct diagnosis. Efforts to cultivate it and to investigate its pathogenesis should be a priority.

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“…Eighteen patients diagnosed with neoehrlichiosis based on PCR-positive blood samples were investigated for A. phagocytophilum -reactive antibodies in serum (Table 1 ). Clinical data pertaining to some of these patients have been published previously [ 3 , 5 , 10 – 12 ]. Serum samples derived from a total of 101 anonymous patients queried for A. phagocytophilum antibodies were analyzed by PCR for the presence of bacterial DNA corresponding to Ca.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Serological reactivity to Anaplasma phagocytophilum in neoehrlichiosis patients

Wass

Grankvist

Mattsson

et al. 2018

Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis

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The tick-borne bacterium Candidatus (Ca.) Neoehrlichia (N.) mikurensis is a cause of “fever of unknown origin” because this strict intracellular pathogen escapes detection by routine blood cultures. Case reports suggest that neoehrlichiosis patients may display serological reactivity to Anaplasma (A.) phagocytophilum. Since Anaplasma serology is part of the diagnostic work-up of undetermined fever in European tick-exposed patients, we wanted to investigate (1) the prevalence of A. phagocytophilum seropositivity among neoehrlichiosis patients, (2) the frequency of misdiagnosed neoehrlichiosis patients among A. phagocytophilum seropositive patients, and (3) the frequency of A. phagocytophilum and Ca. N. mikurensis co-infections. Neoehrlichiosis patients (n = 18) were analyzed for A. phagocytophilum IgM and IgG serum antibodies by indirect immunofluorescence assay. Serum samples from suspected anaplasmosis patients (n = 101) were analyzed for bacterial DNA contents by singleplex PCR specific for A. phagocytophilum and Ca. N. mikurensis, respectively. One fifth of the neoehrlichiosis patients (4/18) were seropositive for IgM and/or IgG to A. phagocytophilum at the time of diagnosis. Among the patients with suspected anaplasmosis, 2% (2/101) were positive for Ca. N. mikurensis by PCR whereas none (0/101) had detectable A. phagocytophilum DNA in the serum. To conclude, patients with suspected anaplasmosis may in fact have neoehrlichiosis. We found no evidence of A. phagocytophilum and Ca. N. mikurensis co-infections in humans with suspected anaplasmosis or confirmed neoehrlichiosis.

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Multilocus Sequence Analysis of Clinical “Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis” Strains from Europe

Cited by 20 publications

References 33 publications

Bacterial Profiling Reveals Novel “Ca. Neoehrlichia”, Ehrlichia, and Anaplasma Species in Australian Human-Biting Ticks

Bacterial Profiling Reveals Novel “Ca. Neoehrlichia”, Ehrlichia, and Anaplasma Species in Australian Human-Biting Ticks

‘ Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis’ in Europe

Serological reactivity to Anaplasma phagocytophilum in neoehrlichiosis patients

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