Ticks and Associated Pathogens From Rescued Wild Animals in Rainforest Fragments of Northeastern Brazil

Abstract

The Ixodidae family comprises ticks that are hematophagous ectoparasites and are considered vectors of several hemoparasites from the Anaplasmataceae family and the genus Hepatozoon, Babesia, and Rickettsia. These ectoparasites parasitize domestic and wild animals belonging to several vertebrate groups. Ticks are highly adapted to different biomes and thus possess a wide geographical distribution. In the Brazilian state of Bahia, localized in the Northeast region, there are large rainforest fragments. Studies have rarely been carried out on ticks, and their hemoparasites, that parasitize wild animals in this region. Thus, this study aimed to identify the tick species parasitizing wild animals rescued in rainforest fragments of Bahia and investigate the presence of hemoparasites in tick tissues. During a 2-year period, 238 ticks were collected from 41 wild mammalians, reptiles, and amphibians. These ectoparasites were taxonomically classified according to their morphological characteristics. The ticks identified belonged to five different species from the Ixodidae family: Amblyomma varium, Amblyomma rotundatum, Amblyomma nodosum, Ixodes loricatus, and Rhipicephalus sanguineus. For the first time, an A. rotundatum parasitizing the Mesoclemmys tuberculata turtle was described. PCR assays using DNA extracted from salivary glands or midgut of the ticks were performed to detect specific DNA fragments of hemoparasites from the genus Rickettsia, Ehrlichia, Babesia, Hepatozoon, and from the Anaplasmataceae family. The results showed positive detection of the Rickettsia genus (7.9%), Anaplasmataceae family (15.8%), and Hepatozoon genus (15.8%). Specific DNA from the Ehrlichia and Babesia genera were not detected in these samples. Specific DNA from members of the Anaplasmataceae family was detected in A. varium for the first time. The present Fonseca et al. Ticks in Wild Animals work showed that amphibians, reptiles, and mammals from Bahia's Atlantic Forest areparasitized by different tick species, and that these ectoparasites present pathogens in their tissues that impact both humans and animals due to their zoonotic potential.

Checklist of parasites associated with ʻreptiles’ in Northeast Brazil

“…References: (1) Dantas-Torres et al (2019); (2, 9, 21) Dantas-Torres et al (2010); (3, 5, 10, 23, 25) Fonseca et al (2020); (4, 6, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17) Alcantara et al (2018b); (7) Dantas-Torres et al (2005); (8, 20) Dantas-Torres et al (2008); (11) Quirino et al (2016); (12) Mendoza-Roldan et al (2020); (18) Cunha et al (2003); (19) Labruna et al (2007); (24) Batista et al (2021); (22) Horta et al (2011); (26) Alcantara et al (2018b)…”

A 50-year-old redescription: molecular and morphometric characterization of Hepatozoon carinicauda Pessôa and Cavalheiro, 1969 in the brown-banded water snake Helicops angulatus (Linnaeus, 1758)

“…DNA was recently detected in a tick ( Amblyomma rotundatum Koch, 1844) collected from a He. carinicaudus snake (Fonseca et al ., 2020). However, in this study, infection in snakes was not confirmed, and so it was not clear whether the tick acts as a vector of Hepatozoon for this aquatic snake host.…”

Ticks from the Brazilian Amazon: Species, Distribution and Host-Relations

“…There are 331 amphibian and 550 reptile species in the Brazilian Amazon (Figure 1), although that faunal records are far from complete [2,19]. Brazil has witnessed an increasing number of reports on tick parasitism of amphibians and reptiles over the past few years [20][21][22][23][24]. However, knowledge of this tick fauna as their hosts remains incomplete.…”

“…However, knowledge of this tick fauna as their hosts remains incomplete. To date, major tick-amphibian associations reported in Brazil are the ixodids Amblyomma dissimile, Amblyomma rotundatum, Amblyomma humerale, Amblyomma fuscum and Amblyomma goeldii [20][21][22][23][24], and the argasids Ornithodoros saraivai and Ornithodoros faccinii associated with species Cycloramphus boraceiensis and Thoropa miliaris, respectively [25,26]. Occasional records on reptiles have also been reported for Ornithodoros mimon and Ornithodoros rietcorreai [22].…”