DOCSLIB.ORG

No Evidence for Widespread Babesia Microti Transmission in Australia

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
No Evidence for Widespread Babesia Microti Transmission in Australia Faddy Helen (Orcid ID: 0000-0002-3446-8248) Viennet Elvina (Orcid ID: 0000-0002-1418-1426) No evidence for widespread Babesia microti transmission in Australia Helen M Faddy1,2, Kelly M Rooks1, Peter J Irwin3, Elvina Viennet1, Andrea Paparini3, Clive R Seed4, Susan L Stramer5, Robert J Harley6, Hiu-Tat Chan7, Peta M Dennington8, Robert LP Flower1 1Research and Development, Australian Red Cross Blood Service, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 2School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 3Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia 4Clinical Services and Research, Australian Red Cross Blood Service, Perth, Western Australia, Australia 5American Red Cross Scientific Affairs, Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA 6Clinical Services and Research, Australian Red Cross Blood Service, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 7Clinical Services and Research, Australian Red Cross Blood Service, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 8Clinical Services and Research, Australian Red Cross Blood Service, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Corresponding author: Helen Faddy; 44 Musk Avenue, Kelvin Grove, Queensland, Australia, 4059; TEL: +617 3838 9262 FAX: +617 3838 9428; hfaddy@redcrossblood.org.au Source of support: Australian governments fund the Australian Red Cross Blood Service to provide blood, blood products and services to the Australian community. Conflict of interest: All authors report no conflicts of interest. This is the author manuscript accepted for publication and has undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process, which may lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record. Please cite this article as doi: 10.1111/trf.15336 This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. Running title: Babesia microti prevalence in Australia Word count (excluding abstract, references and illustrations): 3668 This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. Abstract BACKGROUND: A fatal case of autochthonous Babesia microti infection was reported in Australia in 2012. This has implications for Australian public health, and, given babesiosis is transfusion- transmissible, has possible implications for Australian blood transfusion recipients. We investigated the seroprevalence of antibodies to B. microti in Australian blood donors and in patients with clinically- suspected babesiosis. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Plasma samples (n = 7,000) from donors donating in at risk areas and clinical specimens from patients with clinically-suspected babesiosis (n = 29) were tested for B. microti IgG by immunofluorescence assay (IFA). IFA initially reactive samples were tested for B. microti IgG and IgM by immunoblot and B. microti DNA by PCR. RESULTS: Although five donors were initially reactive for B. microti IgG by IFA, none was confirmed for B. microti IgG (zero estimate; 95% CI: 0–0.05%) and all were negative for B. microti DNA. None of the patient samples had B. microti IgG, IgM or DNA. CONCLUSIONS: This study does not provide evidence for widespread exposure to B. microti in Australian blood donors at local theoretical risk, nor does it provide evidence of B. microti infection in Australian patients with clinically-suspected babesiosis. Given that confirmed evidence of previous exposure to B. microti was not seen, these data suggest transmission of this pathogen is currently uncommon in Australia, and unlikely to pose a risk to transfusion safety at present. Key words: babesiosis, Babesia microti, transmission, Australia, transfusion, safety This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. INTRODUCTION Babesiosis is an emerging tick-borne zoonotic infectious disease.1-4 The first human case of autochthonous babesiosis in Australia, a fatality associated with Babesia microti infection, was reported in 2012.5 This case was a 56 year old male with no history of transfusion, intravenous drug use or travel to countries endemic for babesiosis. 5 The infection was therefore believed to have been from a tick bite.5 This has implications for Australian public health and blood transfusion safety, as transfusion-transmitted (TT) babesiosis has been documented.6 Furthermore, this finding prompted questions in relation to the scale of autochthonous babesiosis in Australia. Babesiosis presents as a blood-borne haemolytic disease caused by intracellular tick-borne protozoan parasites of the genus Babesia. Over 100 Babesia spp. have been identified worldwide, with a subset being pathogenic in humans. Infection in humans can be low-grade and persistent; however, can be more severe in the immunosuppressed, asplenic, and elderly. Human babesiosis occurs sporadically in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas, with endemic transmission in the northeastern and upper midwestern regions of the USA. In the USA, the rodent species B. microti is the most common species associated with human disease,6 as well as being the species implicated in the only autochthonous Australian case to date.5 In Europe, the majority of cases in humans are due to the cattle species B. divergens.4 Other species of Babesia can infect animals; indeed babesiosis is well known as an introduced disease in Australian cattle and dogs, and as an endemic infection in native mammals.7-10 The life cycle of B. microti involves a reservoir vertebrate host and a vector tick. Transmission to humans and other mammalian hosts is usually through the bite of an infected ixodid tick.6 A myriad of Ixodes ticks reside in Australia, the most common and perhaps medically relevant being Ixodes holocyclus, which can be found along the east coast.11,12 Ixodes holocyclus has been implicated in tick paralysis and transmission of rickettsial infections.13-15 To date, no Australian ticks have been shown to transmit B.microti. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. The report of locally acquired babesiosis in Australia5 heightened public and governmental concern in relation to this disease. Thus, the risks posed by this parasite to Australian blood transfusion safety and public health needed to be assessed. This study investigated the prevalence of B. microti in blood donors residing in areas with theoretical risk, based on proximity to where the Australian case resided and also within the distribution range of I. holocyclus, the most common and perhaps medically relevant tick within Australia and in a cohort of Australian patients with clinically-suspected babesiosis. Although other species of Babesia are capable of causing disease in humans, we focused on B. microti as this organism was responsible for the majority of historical TT cases (159/162 cases between 1979-2009 in the USA),16 and was the cause of the only known case of autochthonous babesiosis in Australia,5 the identification of which was the impetus for this study. MATERIALS AND METHODS Blood donor samples This was a de-linked cross-sectional study of Australian blood donors aged 16 to 80 years inclusive, donating in areas considered ‘at-theoretical risk’ for potential exposure to B. microti. To the best of our knowledge there has been no previous investigation of seroprevalence of antibodies to Babesia spp. in Australia, therefore sample size calculations were based on overseas estimates available when the study was designed. Although not ideal, as such estimates are from areas endemic for babesiosis and were based on unconfirmed results, they were used to provide some insight into an approximate required sample size. Assuming a similar seroprevalence to that recorded for B. microti in endemic regions of the USA (1.1%),17 testing ~7,000 samples would give a 95% confidence interval (CI) that was considered acceptable and fundable. ‘At-theoretical risk’ regions were defined as those in the North/South Coast of New South Wales (NSW; region where the Australian case resided and also within the distribution range of I. holocyclus) or in coastal Queensland (QLD; also areas enzootic for I. holocyclus).5,18 Samples were collected between 29 December 2012 and 26 September 2013 from donors residing in the following areas and their surrounds: Cairns (n = 162), Townsville (n = 498), Mackay (n = 261), Rockhampton (n = 586), Gladstone (n = 244), Fraser Coast (n = 503), Sunshine This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. Coast (n = 522), Toowoomba (n = 257), and Ipswich (n = 458) in QLD (n = 3,491 total); as well as Lismore (n = 323), Coffs Harbour (n = 118), Port Macquarie (n = 232), Newcastle (n = 577), Gosford (n = 310), Wollongong (n = 827), Camden (n = 383), Bateman’s Bay (n = 480) and Bega (n = 259) in NSW (n = 3,509 total). Where possible, samples were collected from mobile collection facilities in the above areas; for many centres/mobile sites, particularly those with small collection numbers, these samples represented all available donors/samples during the study period. Samples were collected into 6 mL dipotassium ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (K2EDTA) sample preparation tubes (Becton Dickinson) and centrifuged (1,000 g, 10 min) within 72 h of collection. Samples were sourced from those remaining after routine infectious disease testing was complete and where adequate volume remained. Plasma was aliquoted and stored at -30 ºC. Demographic information (age, sex, postcode, residence state and a basic travel history) was obtained for each sample prior to de-identification. Ethical approval was obtained from the Australian Red Cross Blood Service (Blood Service) Human Research
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Comparative Population Genetic Structure of Two Ixodidae Ticks (Ixodes Ovatus and Haemaphysalis
    bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/862904; this version posted March 19, 2020. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. 1 Title 2 Comparative population genetic structure of two Ixodidae ticks (Ixodes ovatus and Haemaphysalis 3 flava) in Niigata Prefecture, Japan 4 Author names and affiliations 5 Maria Angenica Fulo Regilmea, Megumi Satob, Tsutomu Tamurac, Reiko Araic, Marcello Otake Satod, 6 Sumire Ikedae, Masaya Doia, Kohki Tanakaa, Maribet Gamboaa, Michael T. Monaghanf,g, Kozo 7 Watanabea, h 8 a Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Ehime University, Matsuyama, Ehime, 790- 9 8577, Japan 10 b Graduate School of Health Sciences, Niigata University, Niigata, 951-8518, Japan 11 c Niigata Prefectural Institute of Public Health and Environmental Sciences, Niigata, 950-2144, Japan 12 d Department of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, Dokkyo Medical University, 880 Kitakobayashi, 13 Mibu-machi, Shimotsuga-gun, Tochigi 321-0293, Japan 14 e Research Laboratories, Research and Development Headquarters, Earth Corporation, Hyogo 678- 15 0192, Japan 16 f Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Berlin, 12587, Germany 17 g Institut für Biologie, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195, Germany 18 h Center for Marine Environmental Studies (CMES), Ehime University, Matsuyama, Ehime, 790-8577, 19 Japan 20 Corresponding author 21 watanabe.kozo.mj@ehime-u.ac.jp 1 bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/862904; this version posted March 19, 2020.
    [Show full text]
  • Meeting the Challenge of Tick-Borne Disease Control a Proposal For
    Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases 10 (2019) 213–218 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ttbdis Letters to the Editor Meeting the challenge of tick-borne disease control: A proposal for 1000 Ixodes genomes T 1. Introduction reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2018) each year represent only about 10% of actual cases (CDC; Hinckley et al., At the ‘One Health’ 9th Tick and Tick-borne Pathogen Conference 2014; Nelson et al., 2015). In Europe, roughly 85,000 LD cases are and 1st Asia Pacific Rickettsia Conference (TTP9-APRC1; http://www. reported annually, although actual case numbers are unknown ttp9-aprc1.com), 27 August–1 September 2017 in Cairns, Australia, (European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), 2012). members of the tick and tick-borne disease (TBD) research communities Recent studies are also shedding light on the transmission of human and assembled to discuss a high priority research agenda. Diseases trans- animal pathogens by Australian ticks and the role of Ixodes holocyclus, mitted by hard ticks (subphylum Chelicerata; subclass Acari; family as a vector (reviewed in Graves and Stenos, 2017; Greay et al., 2018). Ixodidae) have substantial impacts on public health and are on the rise Options to control hard ticks and the pathogens they transmit are globally due to human population growth and change in geographic limited. Human vaccines are not available, except against the tick- ranges of tick vectors (de la Fuente et al., 2016). The genus Ixodes is a borne encephalitis virus (Heinz and Stiasny, 2012).
    [Show full text]
  • Australian Paralysis Tick (Ixodes Holocyclus)
    Australian Paralysis Tick (Ixodes holocyclus) By Dr Janette O’Keefe BscBVMS The Australian paralysis tick (Ixodes holocyclus ) is a very dangerous parasite that affects dogs in Australia; specifically on the east coast from North Queensland to Northern Victoria. The main area of distribution is a narrow area running, (roughly confined to a 20-kilometre band), along the coastal areas as indicated in Figure 1 . In northern parts of Australia, ticks can be found all year around. In the cooler southern areas, tick season is generally from spring through to late autumn (Figure 2) . Fig: 2 – Seasonal distribution of 3 stages of Ixodes holocyclus The Life Cycle of the Paralysis Tick The natural hosts of Ixodes holocyclus include bandicoots, wallabies, kangaroos, and other marsupials – basically immune to the effects of the tick's toxin. Other species affected are human, cattle, sheep, horses, dogs, cats, poultry, and other animals. The Ixodes tick goes through the three stages of Larva (6 legs) , Nymph (8 legs) , and Adult (8 legs) , attaching to and feeding on one host during each stage, then falling off and moulting before re-attaching to the same or more often a different host for the next stage. If no host is available, the adult can survive up to 77 days without feeding. The Female Adult feeds and engorges for 6 (cool weather) to 21 days Fig: 1 – distribution of Ixodes holocyclus (warmer weather), before she drops to the ground to lay eggs, thus beginning the cycle again. It is important to note that the adult female does not inject detectable amounts of toxin until the 3rd day of attachment to the host , with peak amounts being injected on days 5 and 6.
    [Show full text]
  • Morphological and Molecular Description of Ixodes Woyliei N. Sp
    Ash et al. Parasites & Vectors (2017) 10:70 DOI 10.1186/s13071-017-1997-8 RESEARCH Open Access Morphological and molecular description of Ixodes woyliei n. sp. (Ixodidae) with consideration for co-extinction with its critically endangered marsupial host Amanda Ash1*, Aileen Elliot1, Stephanie Godfrey1, Halina Burmej1, Mohammad Yazid Abdad1,2, Amy Northover1, Adrian Wayne3, Keith Morris4, Peta Clode5, Alan Lymbery1 and R. C. Andrew Thompson1 Abstract Background: Taxonomic identification of ticks obtained during a longitudinal survey of the critically endangered marsupial, Bettongia penicillata Gray, 1837 (woylie, brush-tailed bettong) revealed a new species of Ixodes Latrielle, 1795. Here we provide morphological data for the female and nymphal life stages of this novel species (Ixodes woyliei n. sp.), in combination with molecular characterisation using the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 gene (cox1). In addition, molecular characterisation was conducted on several described Ixodes species and used to provide phylogenetic context. Results: Ixodes spp. ticks were collected from the two remaining indigenous B. penicillata populations in south- western Australia. Of 624 individual B. penicillata sampled, 290 (47%) were host to ticks of the genus Ixodes; specifically I. woyliei n. sp., I. australiensis Neumann, 1904, I. myrmecobii Roberts, 1962, I. tasmani Neumann, 1899 and I. fecialis Warburton & Nuttall, 1909. Of these, 123 (42%) were host to the newly described I. woyliei n. sp. In addition, 268 individuals from sympatric marsupial species (166 Trichosurus vulpecula hypoleucus Wagner, 1855 (brushtail possum), 89 Dasyurus geoffroii Gould, 1841 (Western quoll) and 13 Isoodon obesulus fusciventer Gray, 1841 (southern brown bandicoot)) were sampled for ectoparasites and of these, I.
    [Show full text]
  • Tick Paralysis
    TICK PARALYSIS BASICS OVERVIEW “Lower motor neuron paralysis” is the loss of voluntary movement caused by disease of the nerves that connect the spinal cord and muscles “Tick paralysis” is a lower motor neuron paralysis, characterized by relaxed muscles or muscles without tone (known as “flaccid paralysis”); caused by nerve toxins found in the saliva of females of certain tick species Also known as “tick-bite paralysis” GENETICS No genetic basis SIGNALMENT/DESCRIPTION of ANIMAL Species United States—dogs; cats appear to be resistant Australia—dogs and cats SIGNS/OBSERVED CHANGES in the ANIMAL Pet walked in a wooded area approximately 1 week before onset of signs Onset—gradual; starts with unsteadiness and weakness in the rear legs Disease Caused by a Non-Ixodes Tick Once nervous system signs appear, rapidly ascending (that is, moving from rear legs to front legs and then head) lower motor neuron weakness (known as “paresis”) to paralysis Patient becomes recumbent in 1 to 3 days, with decreased reflexes (known as “hyporeflexia”) to lack of reflexes (known as “areflexia”) and decreased muscle tone (known as “hypotonia”) to lack of muscle tone (known as “atonia”) Pain sensation is preserved Cranial nerve dysfunction—not a prominent feature; may note facial weakness and reduced jaw tone; sometimes a change in voice (known as “dysphonia”) and difficulty swallowing (known as “dysphagia”) may be seen early in the course of disease; the “cranial nerves” are nerves that originate in the brain and go to various structures of the head
    [Show full text]
  • Ehrlichia, and Anaplasma Species in Australian Human-Biting Ticks
    RESEARCH ARTICLE Bacterial Profiling Reveals Novel “Ca. Neoehrlichia”, Ehrlichia, and Anaplasma Species in Australian Human-Biting Ticks Alexander W. Gofton1*, Stephen Doggett2, Andrew Ratchford3, Charlotte L. Oskam1, Andrea Paparini1, Una Ryan1, Peter Irwin1* 1 Vector and Water-borne Pathogen Research Group, School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia, 2 Department of Medical Entomology, Pathology West and Institute for Clinical Pathology and Medical Research, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia, 3 Emergency Department, Mona Vale Hospital, New South Wales, Australia * a.gofton@murdoch.edu.au (AWG); p.irwin@murdoch.edu.au (PI) Abstract OPEN ACCESS In Australia, a conclusive aetiology of Lyme disease-like illness in human patients remains Citation: Gofton AW, Doggett S, Ratchford A, Oskam elusive, despite growing numbers of people presenting with symptoms attributed to tick CL, Paparini A, Ryan U, et al. (2015) Bacterial bites. In the present study, we surveyed the microbial communities harboured by human-bit- Profiling Reveals Novel “Ca. Neoehrlichia”, Ehrlichia, ing ticks from across Australia to identify bacteria that may contribute to this syndrome. and Anaplasma Species in Australian Human-Biting Ticks. PLoS ONE 10(12): e0145449. doi:10.1371/ Universal PCR primers were used to amplify the V1-2 hyper-variable region of bacterial journal.pone.0145449 16S rRNA genes in DNA samples from individual Ixodes holocyclus (n = 279), Amblyomma Editor: Bradley S. Schneider, Metabiota, UNITED triguttatum (n = 167), Haemaphysalis bancrofti (n = 7), and H. longicornis (n = 7) ticks. STATES The 16S amplicons were sequenced on the Illumina MiSeq platform and analysed in Received: October 12, 2015 USEARCH, QIIME, and BLAST to assign genus and species-level taxonomies.
    [Show full text]
  • The Ecology of New Constituents of the Tick Virome and Their Relevance to Public Health
    viruses Review The Ecology of New Constituents of the Tick Virome and Their Relevance to Public Health Kurt J. Vandegrift 1 and Amit Kapoor 2,3,* 1 The Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics, Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA; kurtvandegrift@gmail.com 2 Center for Vaccines and Immunity, Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH 43205, USA 3 Department of Pediatrics, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43205, USA * Correspondence: Amit.Kapoor@Nationwidechildrens.org Received: 21 March 2019; Accepted: 29 May 2019; Published: 7 June 2019 Abstract: Ticks are vectors of several pathogens that can be transmitted to humans and their geographic ranges are expanding. The exposure of ticks to new hosts in a rapidly changing environment is likely to further increase the prevalence and diversity of tick-borne diseases. Although ticks are known to transmit bacteria and viruses, most studies of tick-borne disease have focused upon Lyme disease, which is caused by infection with Borrelia burgdorferi. Until recently, ticks were considered as the vectors of a few viruses that can infect humans and animals, such as Powassan, Tick-Borne Encephalitis and Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever viruses. Interestingly, however, several new studies undertaken to reveal the etiology of unknown human febrile illnesses, or to describe the virome of ticks collected in different countries, have uncovered a plethora of novel viruses in ticks. Here, we compared the virome compositions of ticks from different countries and our analysis indicates that the global tick virome is dominated by RNA viruses. Comparative phylogenetic analyses of tick viruses from these different countries reveals distinct geographical clustering of the new tick viruses.
    [Show full text]
  • Tick Toxicosis in North America
    Tick Toxicosis in North America Patrick F. Mongan, MD Gainesville, Florida This is a case presentation and review of an uncommon disor­ der, tick toxicosis. The history, epidemiology, pathophysiol­ ogy, and treatment are discussed. This disorder was men­ tioned in diaries from the early 1800s and has been reported in 18 states and the District of Columbia. A review of 70 cases reveals that the typical patient is a female child who develops leg weakness, irritability, or clumsiness. The exact site at which the toxin induces the paralysis is unknown. Removal of the tick usually reverses the paralysis within hours. Confusing tick toxicosis with other disorders may occur, and death has resulted. This article will remind physicians to consider tick toxicosis when seeing patients with acute ataxia or ascending paralysis and to, perhaps, prevent death from an easily treata­ ble disorder. Tick toxicosis, also known as tick paralysis, is a mother because of numbness in the arms and legs. disorder that has been recognized since the 1800s.1 The prior evening the mother noticed her daughter Most cases have occurred in British Columbia, had a “ dazed look.” The next morning the child Canada, and the northwest or southeast United fell several times when getting out of bed. As she States.2"5 Very little is written about this disorder came down the stairs her knees “buckled” and in common pediatric texts,6"9 though most cases she had difficulty maintaining her balance. Shortly have occurred in children. Several texts only thereafter, she complained of her legs and feet mention the problem as part of the differential feeling “ asleep.” This progressed to involve her diagnosis in patients with acute ataxia,7 or acute arms and hands.
    [Show full text]
  • The Role of Humans in the Importation of Ticks to New Zealand
    THE NEW ZEALAND MEDICAL JOURNAL Journal of the New Zealand Medical Association The role of humans in the importation of ticks to New Zealand: a threat to public health and biosecurity Allen C G Heath, Scott Hardwick Abstract Humans coming into New Zealand occasionally, and unwittingly, bring exotic ticks with them, either attached to their bodies or with luggage. Of the 172 available records for tick interception at New Zealand’s border, half can be attributed to human agency. Here, together with an outline of tick biology and ecology, we present evidence of at least 17 species of ticks being brought in by humans, with Australia, North America and Asia the most frequent countries of origin. Risks posed by some of the nine species of ticks already in New Zealand are briefly examined. Sites of attachment of ticks and associated symptoms where these have been recorded are presented. Diseases transmitted by ticks and most likely to be encountered by travellers are briefly discussed together with the most practical method of tick removal. A plea is made for practitioners to increase their awareness of the risks to New Zealand’s biosecurity and public health posed by ticks and to ensure that as many as possible of these unwelcome ‘souvenirs’ are collected and passed on for identification. The world tick fauna comprises about 900 species of which New Zealand has 11 confirmed. 1 Four of these are endemic (kiwi tick, Ixodes anatis ; tuatara tick, Amblyomma (formerly Aponomma ) sphenodonti and the cormorant tick, I. jacksoni ), as well as a new species of Carios from a native bat, and the others are either exotic (Carios (formerly Ornithodoros ) capensis , Haemaphysalis longicornis, Ixodes amersoni ) or shared with Australia ( Ixodes eudyptidis ), or distributed throughout the sub-Antarctic faunal region ( I.
    [Show full text]
  • Acari: Ixodidae), with Discussions About Hypotheses on Tick Evolution
    Revista FAVE – Sección Ciencias Veterinarias 16 (2017) 13-29; doi: https://doi.org/10.14409/favecv.v16i1.6609 Versión impresa ISSN 1666-938X Versión digital ISSN 2362-5589 REVIEW ARTICLE Birds and hard ticks (Acari: Ixodidae), with discussions about hypotheses on tick evolution Guglielmone AA1,2, Nava S1,2,* 1Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Rafaela, Argentina 2Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Argentina * Correspondence: Santiago Nava, INTA EEA Rafaela, CC 22, CP 2300 Rafaela, Santa Fe, Argentina. E-mail: nava.santiago@inta.gob.ar Received: 3 March 2017. Accepted: 11 June 2017. Available online: 22 June 2017 Editor: P.M. Beldomenico SUMMARY. The relationship between birds (Aves) and hard ticks (Ixodidae) was analyzed for the 386 of 725 tick extant species whose larva, nymph and adults are known as well as their natural hosts. A total of 136 (54 Prostriata= Ixodes, 82 Metastriata= all other genera) are frequently found on Aves, but only 32 species (1 associated with Palaeognathae, 31 with Neognathae) have all parasitic stages feeding on birds: 25 Ixodes (19% of the species analyzed for this genus), 6 Haemaphysalis (7%) and 1 species of Amblyomma (2%). The species of Amblyomma feeds on marine birds (MB), the six Haemaphysalis are parasites of non-marine birds (NMB), and 14 of the 25 Ixodes feed on NMB, one feeds on NMB and MB, and ten on MB. The Australasian Ixodes + I. uriae clade probably originated at an uncertain time from the late Triassic to the early Cretaceous. It is speculated that Prostriata first hosts were Gondwanan theropod dinosaurs in an undetermined place before Pangaea break up; alternatively, if ancestral monotromes were involved in its evolution an Australasian origin of Prostriata seems plausible.
    [Show full text]
  • Ehrlichia, and Anaplasma Species in Australian Human-Biting Ticks
    RESEARCH ARTICLE Bacterial Profiling Reveals Novel “Ca. Neoehrlichia”, Ehrlichia, and Anaplasma Species in Australian Human-Biting Ticks Alexander W. Gofton1*, Stephen Doggett2, Andrew Ratchford3, Charlotte L. Oskam1, Andrea Paparini1, Una Ryan1, Peter Irwin1* 1 Vector and Water-borne Pathogen Research Group, School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia, 2 Department of Medical Entomology, Pathology West and Institute for Clinical Pathology and Medical Research, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia, 3 Emergency Department, Mona Vale Hospital, New South Wales, Australia * a.gofton@murdoch.edu.au (AWG); p.irwin@murdoch.edu.au (PI) Abstract OPEN ACCESS In Australia, a conclusive aetiology of Lyme disease-like illness in human patients remains Citation: Gofton AW, Doggett S, Ratchford A, Oskam elusive, despite growing numbers of people presenting with symptoms attributed to tick CL, Paparini A, Ryan U, et al. (2015) Bacterial bites. In the present study, we surveyed the microbial communities harboured by human-bit- Profiling Reveals Novel “Ca. Neoehrlichia”, Ehrlichia, ing ticks from across Australia to identify bacteria that may contribute to this syndrome. and Anaplasma Species in Australian Human-Biting Ticks. PLoS ONE 10(12): e0145449. doi:10.1371/ Universal PCR primers were used to amplify the V1-2 hyper-variable region of bacterial journal.pone.0145449 16S rRNA genes in DNA samples from individual Ixodes holocyclus (n = 279), Amblyomma Editor: Bradley S. Schneider, Metabiota, UNITED triguttatum (n = 167), Haemaphysalis bancrofti (n = 7), and H. longicornis (n = 7) ticks. STATES The 16S amplicons were sequenced on the Illumina MiSeq platform and analysed in Received: October 12, 2015 USEARCH, QIIME, and BLAST to assign genus and species-level taxonomies.
    [Show full text]
  • First Evidence of Ehrlichia Minasensis Infection in Horses from Brazil
    pathogens Article First Evidence of Ehrlichia minasensis Infection in Horses from Brazil Lívia S. Muraro 1, Aneliza de O. Souza 2, Tamyres N. S. Leite 2, Stefhano L. Cândido 3, Andréia L. T. Melo 4, Hugo S. Toma 5 , Mariana B. Carvalho 4, Valéria Dutra 3, Luciano Nakazato 3, Alejandro Cabezas-Cruz 6 and Daniel M. de Aguiar 1,* 1 Laboratory of Virology and Rickettsial Infections, Veterinary Hospital, Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT), Av. Fernando Correa da Costa 2367, Cuiabá 78090-900, Brazil; liviatcho@hotmail.com 2 Veterinary Clinical Laboratory, Department of Veterinary Clinics, University of Cuiabá (UNIC), Av. Manoel José de Arruda 3100, Cuiabá 78065-900, Brazil; aneliza-oliveira@hotmail.com (A.d.O.S.); tamyres.leite@hotmail.com (T.N.S.L.) 3 Laboratory of Microbiology and Molecular Biology, Veterinary Hospital of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT), Av. Fernando Correa da Costa 2367, Cuiabá 78090-900, Brazil; stefanobte@hotmail.com (S.L.C.); valdutra@cpd.ufmt.br (V.D.); lucnaka@mail.com (L.N.) 4 Veterinary of Clinical, Veterinary Medicine College, University of Cuiabá (UNIC), Av. Manoel José de Arruda 3100, Cuiabá 78065-900, Brazil; andreialtm@gmail.com (A.L.T.M.); mama_buenocarvalhos@hotmail.com (M.B.C.) 5 Veterinary Medicine Department, Federal University of Lavras (UFLA), Campus Universitário, Mailbox 3037, Lavras 37200-000, Brazil; hugo.toma@ufla.br 6 Anses, INRAE, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d’Alfort, UMR BIPAR, Laboratoire de Santé Animale, F-94700 Maisons-Alfort, France; alejandro.cabezas@vet-alfort.fr * Correspondence: danmoura@ufmt.br Citation: Muraro, L.S.; Souza, A.d.O.; Leite, T.N.S.; Cândido, S.L.; Melo, Abstract: The genus Ehrlichia includes tick-borne bacterial pathogens affecting humans, domestic and A.L.T.; Toma, H.S.; Carvalho, M.B.; wild mammals.
    [Show full text]