Ticks and Tick-Borne Pathogens Abound in the Cattle Population of the Rabat-Sale Kenitra Region, Morocco

Abstract

Tick-borne pathogens cause the majority of diseases in the cattle population in Morocco. In this study, ticks were collected from cattle in the Rabat-Sale-Kenitra region of Morocco and identified morphologically, while tick-borne pathogens were detected in cattle blood samples via polymerase chain reaction assay and sequencing. A total of 3394 adult ixodid ticks were collected from cattle and identified as eight different tick species representing two genera, Hyalomma and Rhipicephalus. The collected ticks consisted of Hyalomma marginatum, Hyalomma anatolicum excavatum, Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato, Rhipicephalus bursa, Hyalomma detritum, Hyalomma lusitanicum, Hyalomma dromedarii, and Hyalomma impeltatum. The overall prevalence of tick-borne pathogens in blood samples was 63.8%, with 29.3% positive for Babesia/Theileria spp., 51.2% for Anaplasma/Ehrlichia spp., and none of the samples positive for Rickettsia spp. Sequencing results revealed the presence of Theileria annulata, Babesia bovis, Anaplasma marginale, Theileria buffeli, Theileria orientalis, Babesia occultans, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Anaplasma capra, Anaplasma platys, Anaplasma bovis, Ehrlichia minasensis, and one isolate of an unknown bovine Anaplasma sp. Crossbreeds, females, older age, and high tick infestation were the most important risk factors for the abundance of tick-borne pathogens, which occurred most frequently in Jorf El Melha, Sidi Yahya Zaer, Ait Ichou, and Arbaoua locations.

Tick-borne pathogens identified inHyalomma marginatum(Acari: Ixodidae) collected from various vertebrate hosts in the South of France

“…Nevertheless, it cannot be ruled out that an evolutive adaptation could lead to H. marginatum -borne transmission of B. occultans in southern Europe. This deserves further investigations in H. marginatum ticks collected on cattle populations, as recently done in Morocco (Elhachimi et al 2021).…”

Anaplasma capra: a new emerging tick-borne zoonotic pathogen

“…Although the studies on A. capra were mostly conducted in China, in a short time its presence has been revealed in 18 different countries including China (Liu et al 2012 ), South Korea (Seo et al 2018 ), Türkiye (Altay et al 2022a ), Kyrgyztan (Altay et al 2022b , c ), Malaysia (Koh et al 2018 ), Japan (Kawahara et al 2006 ), Iraq (unpublished data GenBank; ON872236), Iran (Staji et al 2021 ), India (Kumar et al 2023 ), Pakistan (Isaq et al 2022), France (Jouglin et al 2019 ), Sweeden (Grandi et al 2018 ), Portugal (unpublished data, GenBank; OK091153), Spain (Remesar et al 2022 ), Greece (Saratsis et al 2022 ), Angola (Barradas et al 2021 ), Morocco (Elhachimi et al 2021 ), and Ghana (Addo et al 2023 ) by molecular techniques (Fig. 1 ).…”

“…Despite this undoubtedly valuable information, it is still very difficult to determine the limits of the prevalence of A. capra . The positivity rate of A. capra in cattle was 0.28% in Kyrgyzstan (Altay et al 2022c ), 0.30% in South Korea (Miranda et al 2021 ), 0.41% in Türkiye (Altay et al 2022a ), and 11.3% in Morocco (Elhachimi et al 2021 ). Similarly, while the positivity rate in goats is 0.30% in South Korea (Miranda et al 2021 ), this rate reaches 44.6% in China (Wei et al 2020 ).…”

Molecular Prevalence of Anaplasma Marginale in Cattle and Identification of Rhipicephalus, Boophilus, Hyalomma, And Amblyomma Ticks from District Mirpurkhas and Hyderabad

“…Bovine anaplasmosis is mainly caused by Anaplasma marginale, this pathogen is mostly prevalent in the Mediterranean basin. Boophilus spp., Dermacentor spp., Hyalomma sp Ixodes ricinus and , Rhipicephalus species of ticks are frequently convoluted in the spread of Anaplasma marginale, also insects and the intragenic pathway are involved in the transmission [5]. The prevalence of ticks has been increased world widely in humans and animals, perhaps due to changes in human activities, climatic conditions, demographics and land consumptions, resulting in the increase of infection rate and zoonotic diseases [6].…”