Seasonal Dynamics, Record of Ticks Infesting Humans, Wild and Domestic Animals and Molecular Phylogeny of Rhipicephalus microplus in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan

Ali, Abid; Khan, M. A.; Zahid, Hafsa; Yaseen, Pir Muhammad; Khan, Majid; Nawab, Javed; Rehman, Zia Ur; Ateeq, Muhammad; Khan, Sardar; Ibrahim, Mohammad

doi:10.3389/fphys.2019.00793

Cited by 82 publications

(101 citation statements)

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“…This study provides the first insight into the molecular diversity of ticks, TBPs and endosymbionts in ticks from small ruminants in the FATA, Pakistan. The occurrence of Hyalomma and Rhipicephalus species characterized in our study is consistent with what has been reported previously from small and large ruminants in selected areas of Pakistan [8,15,50]. However, this study provides the first genetic evidence for Hs.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…Although a number of studies have assessed the prevalence of ticks and tick-borne diseases (TTBDs) of small ruminants in different areas of Pakistan [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19], there is a paucity of information from the FATA. Moreover, no study has yet investigated the presence, prevalence and diversity of tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) of small ruminants in this region.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An Assessment of the Molecular Diversity of Ticks and Tick-Borne Microorganisms of Small Ruminants in Pakistan

et al. 2020

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This study investigated ticks and tick-borne microorganisms of small ruminants from five districts of the Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) of Pakistan. Morphological (n = 104) and molecular (n = 54) characterization of the ticks revealed the presence of six ixodid ticks: Rhipicephalus (Rh.) haemaphysaloides, Rh. microplus, Rh. turanicus, Haemaphysalis (Hs.) punctata, Hs. sulcata and Hyalomma anatolicum. Phylogenetic analyses of nucleotide sequence data for two mitochondrial (16S and cytochrome c oxidase 1) and one nuclear (second internal transcribed spacer) DNA regions provided strong support for the grouping of the six tick species identified in this study. Microfluidic real-time PCR, employing multiple pre-validated nuclear and mitochondrial genetic markers, detected 11 potential pathogens and endosymbionts in 72.2% of the ticks (n = 54) tested. Rickettsia (R.) massiliae was the most common pathogen found (42.6% of ticks) followed by Theileria spp. (33.3%), Anaplasma (A.) ovis and R. slovaca (25.9% each). Anaplasma centrale, A. marginale, Ehrlichia spp., R. aeschlimannii, R. conorii and endosymbionts (Francisella- and Coxiella-like) were detected at much lower rates (1.9–22.2%) in ticks. Ticks from goats (83.9%) carried significantly higher microorganisms than those from sheep (56.5%). This study demonstrates that ticks of small ruminants from the FATA are carrying multiple microorganisms of veterinary and medical health significance and provides the basis for future investigations of ticks and tick-borne diseases of animals and humans in this and neighboring regions.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Assessment of the Molecular Diversity of Ticks and Tick-Borne Microorganisms of Small Ruminants in Pakistan

et al. 2020

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“…and Rhipicephalus spp. [10–15]. These ticks are responsible for transmitting three important TBDs in cattle and buffaloes, including anaplasmosis (caused by Anaplasma centrale and A. marginale ), babesiosis (caused by Babesia bigemina and B. bovis ) and tropical theileriosis (caused by Theileria annulata ) [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bovine ticks harbour a diverse array of microorganisms in Pakistan

et al. 2020

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BackgroundTicks and tick-borne pathogens (TTBP) are a major constraint to livestock production in Pakistan; despite a high prevalence of TTBPs, knowledge on the capacity of Pakistani ticks to carry pathogens and endosymbionts is limited. Furthermore, mixed infections with multiple microorganisms further complicate and limit the detection potential of traditional diagnostic methods. The present study investigated the tick-borne microorganisms in bovine ticks in Pakistan, employing a high-throughput microfluidic real-time PCR based technique.MethodsTicks were collected from clinically healthy cattle (n = 116) and water buffaloes (n = 88) from 30 villages across six districts located in five agro-ecological zones (AEZs) of Pakistan from September to November 2017. The microfluidic real-time PCR was used to test the genomic DNA of individual ticks for the presence of 27 bacterial and eight parasitic microorganisms. Phylogenetic methods were used to assess the genetic relationship of DNA sequences determined herein.ResultsPCR detected DNA of at least one microorganism in each of 221 ticks tested (94.4%, 221/234). DNA-based detection inferred that single pathogens/endosymbionts were the most common (43.4%, 96/221) followed by double (38.9%, 86/221), triple (14.5%, 32/221), quadruple (2.3%, 5/221) and quintuple (0.9%, 2/221) mixed infections. Piroplasms (Babesia/Theileria spp.) were the most prevalent (31.6%, 74/234), followed by Ehrlichia spp. (20%, 47/234) and Anaplasma marginale (7.7%, 18/234). Anaplasma phagocytophilum, A. ovis, A. centrale, Babesia ovis, Borrelia spp., Rickettsia spp., R. massiliae, Bartonella spp. and Hepatozoon spp. were also detected. Endosymbionts such as Francisella-like (91.5%, 214/234) and Coxiella-like (1.3%, 3/234) organisms were also detected in ticks. The highest diversity of microorganisms was detected in Hyalomma anatolicum ticks (test-positive for 14/14 microorganisms), followed by Rhipicephalus microplus (4/14), Hy. hussaini (3/14) and Rh. annulatus (2/14). Ticks collected from cattle carried significantly more frequently piroplasms (41.2%, 54/131; P < 0.05) than those from buffaloes (19.4%, 20/103). However, the overall prevalence of microorganisms did not vary significantly among ticks from the two host species as well as across different AEZs.ConclusionsTo our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate a wide range of tick-borne microorganisms in bovine ticks using a high-throughput diagnostic method from different AEZs in Pakistan. These findings will aid in establishing the distribution patterns and the control of tick-borne pathogens of bovines in Pakistan.

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“…In general, the non-parasitic tick stages do not move too much, and the main territorial spread of ticks is by hosts (Ogden et al, 2013). Hence, the distance to which a tick is transported from its environmental origin where it has naturally detached (and eventually collected), highly depends on the movement and migration pattern of the hosts (de la Fuente et al, 2015;Abid et al, 2019). For long distance migrators, such as birds, dispersal can be significant, and the origin of ticks can be very distant.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Targeting the Exoskeleton Elementome to Track Tick Geographic Origins

et al. 2020

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Understanding the origin of ticks is essential for evaluating the risk of tick-borne disease introduction into new territories. However, when collecting engorged ticks from a host, it is virtually impossible to identify the geographical location where this tick was acquired. Recently, the elementome of tick exoskeleton was characterized by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy analysis (EDS). The objective of our preliminary proof-of-concept study was to evaluate the use of SEM-EDS for the analysis of tick exoskeleton elementome to gain insight into the tick geographic and host origin. For this preliminary analysis we used 10 samples of engorged ticks (larvae and nymphs of six species from three genera) collected from various resident hosts and locations. The elementome of the tick exoskeleton was characterized in dorsal and ventral parts with three scans on each part using an EDS 80 mm 2 detector at 15 kV in a field emission scanning electron microscope. We used principal component analysis (PCA) (varimax rotation) to reduce the redundancy of data under the premise of losing information as little as possible. The PCA was used to test whether the different variables (tick species, stages, hosts, or geographic locations) differ in the composition of exoskeleton elementome (C, O, P, Cl, and Na). Analyses were carried out using SPSS. The PCA analysis explained a high percentage of variance using the first two factors, C and O (86.13%). The first PC (PC-1; 63.12%) was positively related to P, Cl, and Na, and negatively related to C. The second principal component (23.01%) was mainly positively related to C. In the space defined by the two extracted PC (PC-1 and PC-2), the elementome of tick samples was clearly associated with tick species, but not with developmental stages, hosts or geographic locations. A differentiated elementome pattern was observed within Romanian regions (CJ and TL) for the same tick species. The use of the SEM-EDS methodological approach provided additional information about the tick exoskeleton elementome with possible applications to the identification of tick origin host and location.

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Seasonal Dynamics, Record of Ticks Infesting Humans, Wild and Domestic Animals and Molecular Phylogeny of Rhipicephalus microplus in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan

Cited by 82 publications

References 67 publications

An Assessment of the Molecular Diversity of Ticks and Tick-Borne Microorganisms of Small Ruminants in Pakistan

An Assessment of the Molecular Diversity of Ticks and Tick-Borne Microorganisms of Small Ruminants in Pakistan

Bovine ticks harbour a diverse array of microorganisms in Pakistan

Targeting the Exoskeleton Elementome to Track Tick Geographic Origins

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