Tick Fauna and Associated Rickettsia, Theileria, and Babesia spp. in Domestic Animals in Sudan (North Kordofan and Kassala States)

Abstract

Ticks and tick-borne diseases (TBDs) have a major economic impact on animal production worldwide. In the present study, 2410 ticks were collected from January to August 2017 from livestock and other domestic animals in North Kordofan and Kassala, Sudan, for species identification and investigation of Rickettsia spp. and piroplasms, either individually or as pools containing up to 10 ticks by molecular methods. In total, 13 tick species were identified by morphology and 16S rDNA sequencing. The most frequent tick species were Hyalomma impeltatum (24.90%), Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi (18.84%), Amblyomma lepidum (16.06%), and Rhipicephalus camicasi (12.49%). A pan-Rickettsia real-time PCR revealed an overall minimum infection rate (MIR) with Rickettsia spp. of 5.64% (136 positive tick pools/2410 total ticks). Rickettsia africae and Rickettsia aeschlimannii were the most frequently identified species by sequencing. Furthermore, the following highly pathogenic livestock parasites were detected: Theileria annulata, Theileria lestoquardi, Theileria equi, and Babesia caballi. The present study documented Rhipicephalus afranicus as well as Rickettsia conorii israelensis, Rickettsia massiliae, and Babesia pecorum for the first time in Sudan. These findings are significant for the animal production sector as well as in terms of One Health, as the detected Rickettsia spp. can cause serious illness in humans.

Exploring Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Microbiomes Helps in Detecting Tick-Borne Infectious Agents in the Blood of Camels

“…anatolicum , Hy. Impeltatum and Amblyomma lepidum [ 33 ]. These tick species can infest camels, cattle and sheep [ 4 , 34 , 35 ], suggesting that a possible transmission of these Theileria spp.…”

Contemporary diagnostics for medically relevant fastidious microorganisms belonging to the genera Anaplasma,Bartonella,Coxiella,OrientiaandRickettsia

“…ompA , ompB , 23S-5S spacer region, Sca4 ) followed by a phylogenetic analysis of the amplicon sequences is essential (Chitimia-Dobler et al 2018 ). For the identification of the pathogen in the arthropod vectors mainly real-time PCRs are used (Springer et al 2020 ).…”

High Prevalence and New Genotype of Coxiella burnetii in Ticks Infesting Camels in Somalia

“…Prior to collection, each animal was cast and restrained. Collected ticks from the same animal were kept separately in a universal bottle containing 70% ethanol, labelled indicating location, sex, and age [39,40]…”

“…Prior to collection, each animal was cast and restrained. Collected ticks from the same animal were kept separately in a universal bottle containing 70% ethanol, labelled indicating location, sex, and age [39,40]. Total nucleic acid was extracted using the MagNA Pure LC RNA/DNA Kit (Roche, Mannheim, Germany) in a MagNA Pure LC instrument (Roche), according to the manufacturer's instructions.…”