Pathogenic Rickettsia in ticks of spur‐thighed tortoise ( Testudo graeca ) sold in a Qatar live animal market

Abstract

The dissemination of vector arthropods harbouring zoonotic pathogens through the uncontrolled transboundary trade of exotic and pet animals poses an important threat to Public Health. In the present report, we describe the introduction of pathogenic Rickettsia africae and R. aeschlimanni in ticks removed from imported tortoises in Qatar. A total of 21 ticks were collected from pet spur‐thighed tortoises (Testudo graeca) from Doha, May 2018, and studied for species identification and characterization of Rickettsia spp. Morphological and molecular analysis of ticks allowed their identification as Hyalomma aegyptium. Molecular analysis of partial ompA and gltA genes showed that Rickettsia sequences found on these ticks clustered with sequences classified as R. aeschilimanii and R. africae. Since pre‐adult stages of H. aegyptium also feed on humans, this tick species may play a role in the transmission of R. aeschilimanii and R. africae. We alert for the introduction of non‐native pets as vehicles for tick importation, known vectors for animal and human pathogenic agents. Importation of exotic species into non‐autochthonous countries deserves strict control to enforce robust surveillance and mitigate potential exotic diseases epidemics.

Molecular Evidence of Hemolivia mauritanica, Ehrlichia spp. and the Endosymbiont Candidatus Midichloria Mitochondrii in Hyalomma aegyptium Infesting Testudo graeca Tortoises from Doha, Qatar

“…The current dimension and growth of international wildlife trade is known not only to act as an avenue for the spread of disease [ 41 ] but also poses an important risk to global biodiversity, as well as having an impact on social and economic development [ 42 ]. Importation of tick-infested tortoise, later found to be carrying zoonotic pathogens, have been reported in the past [ 16 , 43 ].…”

“…Ticks included in this study were previously collected and screened for the presence of Rickettsia spp. in 2019 [ 16 ]. Briefly, a total of 21 ticks were removed from two pet tortoises ( T .…”

“…The animal market had a total of 20 animal stores, four of which sold tortoises (averaging 10–15 tortoises per store). The removed ticks were previously identified to the species level as Hyalomma aegyptium [ 16 ] using the morphological criteria already described and further confirmed by PCR using mitochondrial genes (12S and 16S rDNA) as molecular targets [ 23 , 24 ].…”

“…Various known pathogens have been detected in H. aegyptium ticks, such as Rickettsia aeschlimannii and Rickettsia africae [ 16 ], Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. [ 17 ] and Borrelia turcica [ 18 ], Hepatozoon kisrae [ 19 ], Coxiella burnetii [ 20 ] and Hemolivia mauritanica [ 21 ].…”

Reptile vector-borne diseases of zoonotic concern

“…An important role of reptiles in the epidemiology of rickettsial agents is given by the international reptile trade, where reptiles are imported with their ectoparasites harboring Rickettsia spp. ( Burridge and Simmons, 2003 ; Pietzsch et al, 2006 ; Mihalca, 2015 ; Barradas et al, 2020 ; Bezerra-Santos et al, 2021a , 2021b ). In fact, given that some tick species that usually parasitize reptiles can also infest humans, the risk of emergence of rickettsial agents in non-endemic areas exists ( Norval et al, 2020 ).…”