LETTERS

Slavinski, Faye Sorhage, and Carl Wil- 7. Cohen ML, Potter M, Pollard R, Feld- Ixodes ricinus (1). These results sug- liams for their clarifi cation on state and man RA. Turtle-associated salmonel- gested, as pointed out by Michalik et losis in the United States. Effect of national regulations aimed at reducing Public Health Action, 1970 to 1976. al. (1), that wild boar might play a role the risks of salmonellosis and their advice JAMA. 1980;243:1247–9. http://dx.doi. in the epizootiology of A. phagocyto- on conducting this survey. We also thank org/10.1001/jama.1980.03300380027016 philum by serving as a natural reser- members and staff of the National Asso- 8. Centers for Disease Control and Preven- voir host, at least in some regions. tion. Turtle-associated salmonellosis in ciation of State Public Health Veterinar- humans—United States, 2006–2007. To test this hypothesis, we con- ians and the National Resource Center for MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. ducted transcriptomics studies to char- Health and Safety in Child Care and Early 2007;56:649–52. acterize host response to A. phagocy- Education for their assistance. 9. National Association of State Public tophilum infection in naturally and Health Veterinarians, Inc, Compendium experimentally infected boars (6,7). This survey was generously funded of measures to prevent disease associated The results suggested that boars are by the Mars Foundation and New York with animals in public settings, 2011: Na- tional Association of State Public Health susceptible to A. phagocytophilum, Community Trust. Veterinarians, Inc. MMWR Recomm Rep. but are able to control infection, 2011;60(RR-04):1–24. mainly through activation of innate Neil M. Vora, Kristine M. Smith, Address for correspondence: Neil M. Vora, 460 immune responses and cytoskeleton Catherine C. Machalaba, rearrangement to promote phagocy- and William B. Karesh W 34th St, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10001- 2320, USA; email: [email protected] tosis and autophagy. Control of A. Author affi liations: Columbia University, phagocytophilum infection in boars New York, New York, USA (N.M. Vora); and might result in infection levels below EcoHealth Alliance, New York (N.M. Vora, PCR detection or infection clearance, K.M. Smith, C.C. Machalaba, W.B. Karesh) contributing to the low percentage of DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid1812.120784 infection prevalence detected for this species in most regions. References The low detection levels suggest that boars have a low or no impact as a 1. Mead PS, Slutsker L, Dietz V, McCaig LF, reservoir host for A. phagocytophilum. Bresee JS, Shapiro C, et al. Food-related Wild Boars as illness and death in the United States. Even if boars remain persistently in- Emerg Infect Dis. 1999;5:607–25. http:// Hosts of Human- fected with A. phagocytophilum at low dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid0505.990502 levels by downregulating some adap- 2. Mermin J, Hutwagner L, Vugia D, Shallow Pathogenic tive immune genes and delaying the S, Daily P, Bender J, et al. Reptiles, am- Anaplasma phibians, and human Salmonella infection: apoptotic death of neutrophils through a population-based, case-control study. phagocytophilum activation of the Jak-STAT pathway, Clin Infect Dis. 2004;38(Suppl 3):S253– among other mechanisms (6), their 61. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/381594 Variants role as a source of infection for ticks 3. Mermin J, Hoar B, Angulo FJ. Igua- nas and Salmonella Marina infection To the Editor: Michalik et al. (1) remains to be demonstrated. in children: a refl ection of the increas- reported a 12% prevalence of Ana- ing incidence of reptile-associated sal- plasma phagocytophilum, the caus- José de la Fuente monellosis in the United States. Pedi- ative agent of human granulocytic and Christian Gortazar atrics. 1997;99:399–402. http://dx.doi. Author affi liations: Instituto de Investigación org/10.1542/peds.99.3.399 anaplasmosis and tick-borne fever of 4. Centers for Disease Control and Preven- ruminants, in wild boars in Poland. A. en Recursos Cinegéticos, Ciudad Real, tion. Reptile-associated salmonellosis— phagocytophilum has been reported Spain (J. de la Fuente, C. Gortazar); and selected states, 1998–2002. MMWR with low prevalence among wild boar Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Okla- Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2003;52:1206–9. homa, USA (J. de la Fuente) 5. Pickering LK, Marano N, Bocchini in the Czech Republic, Slovenia (2), JA, Angulo FJ. Exposure to nontradi- and Japan (3). In Spain and Missis- DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid1812.120778 tional pets at home and to animals in sippi, United States, A. phagocyto- public settings: risks to children. Pedi- atrics. 2008;122:876–86. http://dx.doi. philum in wild boars or feral pigs, re- References org/10.1542/peds.2008-1942 spectively, has not been reported (4,5). 1. Michalik J, Stańczak J, Cieniuch S, Race- 6. Centers for Disease Control and Preven- Furthermore, in Slovenia and Poland, wicz M, Sikora B, Dabert M. Wild boars tion. Multistate outbreak of human Sal- the A. phagocytophilum gene sequenc- as hosts of human-pathogenic Anaplasma monella Typhimurium infections associ- phagocytophilum variants. Emerg Infect ated with aquatic frogs—United States, es found in samples from wild boars Dis. 2012;18:998–1001. http://dx.doi. 2009. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. were identical to those found in sam- org/10.3201/eid1806.110997 2010;58:1433–6. ples from humans and the tick vector

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2. Strasek Smrdel K, Tozon N, Duh D, Migratory Birds, stricto (s.s.), i.e., the principal vectors Petrovec M, Avsic Zupanc T. Diversity of of CCHFV (2). Of 10 morphologically groESL sequences of Anaplasma phago- Ticks, and Crimean- cytophilum among dogs in Slovenia. Clin representative ticks, 9 were identifi ed Microbiol Infect. 2009;15(Suppl 2):79– Congo Hemorrhagic by molecular methods as H. rufi pes 80. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-0691. Fever Virus and 1 as H. marginatum s.s. (6). 2008.02201.x Ticks belonging to the H. 3. Masuzawa T, Uchishima Y, Fukui T, Oka- moto Y, Muto M, Koizumi N, et al. Detec- To the Editor: In a recently marginatum complex are common tion of Anaplasma phagocytophilum from published study, Estrada-Peña et al. in large parts of the African and wild boars and deer in Japan. Jpn J Infect reported the fi nding of Crimean-Congo Eurasian continents. The immature Dis. 2011;64:333–6. hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) ticks feed mainly on birds and, to 4. Portillo A, Pérez-Martínez L, Santibáñez S, Santibáñez P, Palomar AM, Oteo JA. in adult Hyalomma lusitanicum ticks a lesser extent, on small mammals, Anaplasma spp. in wild mammals and Ixo- from red deer (Cervus elaphus) in whereas the adults actively seek larger des ricinus from the north of Spain. Vector Spain during 2010 (1). Phylogenetic mammals, including hares, wild and Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2011;11:3–8. http:// analysis showed that the virus was domesticated ungulates, or humans dx.doi.org/10.1089/vbz.2009.0214 5. Castellaw AH, Chenney EF, Varela-Stokes most likely of African origin. Here, (4). In accordance with this pattern, AS. Tick-borne disease agents in various we present a model for the transfer of 99% of the collected ticks in our study wildlife from Mississippi. Vector Borne CCHFV-infected ticks by migratory were larvae and nymphs. Zoonotic Dis. 2011;11:439–42. http:// birds from Africa to Europe. On April 23, 2009, a woodchat dx.doi.org/10.1089/vbz.2009.0221 6. Galindo RC, de la Fuente J. Transcrip- CCHFV is an RNA virus shrike (Lanius senator senator) tomics data integration reveals Jak-STAT in the genus Nairovirus, family was caught at the Antikythira Bird as a common pathway affected by patho- Bunyaviridae. It is transmitted to Observatory in the Greek archipelago. genic intracellular bacteria in natural humans through tick bites or by The bird was a female in her second reservoir hosts. J Proteomics Bioinform. 2012;5:108–15. http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/ contact with blood or tissues from calendar year and harbored 19 H. jpb.1000221 infected ticks, livestock, or humans. marginatum complex ticks (3 larvae 7. Galindo RC, Ayllón N, Strašek Smrdel K, Manifestations of severe cases are and 16 nymphs, most likely H. rufi pes). Boadella M, Beltrán-Beck B, Mazariegos internal and external hemorrhages and Three of the nymphs, 1 half-fed and 2 M, et al. Gene expression profi le suggests that pigs (Sus scrofa) are susceptible to multiorgan failure; the case-fatality fully engorged, were found positive Anaplasma phagocytophilum but control rate is ≈30% (2,3). CCHFV has the by real-time PCR for the CCHFV infection. Parasit Vectors. 2012;5:181. widest geographic distribution of small (S) segment by using methods http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1756-3305-5- any tick-borne virus, encompassing previously described (7), amplifying 181 ≈30 countries from eastern China a 127-bp product. The 3 positive Address for correspondence: Jose de la Fuente, through Asia, the Middle East, and samples were sequenced and found to Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, southeastern Europe to Africa (3,4). be identical. Previous studies, based College of Veterinary Medicine, 250 McElroy During the past decade, the virus on the S segments, have identifi ed 7 Hall, Oklahoma State Univers ity, Stillwater, has emerged in new areas of Europe, phylogenetically distinct genotypes: OK 74078, USA; email: jose.de_la_fuente@ Africa, the Middle East, and Asia Africa 1–3, Asia 1–2, and Europe 1–2 okstate.edu and has increased in disease-endemic (8). Europe 1 has been reported from areas (5) (online Technical Appendix, Russia, Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, wwwnc.cdc.gov/EID/pdfs/12-0718- and the Balkans, and Europe 2 is the Techapp.pdf). nonpathogenic strain AP92 found in In response to the emergence of Greece. Alignment of the Antikythira CCHFV in Europe, during spring 2009 strain with CCHFV S segment and 2010, we screened migratory birds sequences deposited in GenBank for ticks as they traveled from Africa showed that it had the greatest to Europe. At 2 bird observatories on similarity with strains belonging to the Mediterranean Sea (Capri, Italy, the genotype Africa 3 (8). In addition, and Antikythira, Greece), 14,824 birds a phylogenetic tree clearly places of 78 different species were caught the Antikythira sequence within the and examined for ticks. Most (88%) of Africa 3 clade (Figure). the 747 collected ticks were identifi ed The woodchat shrike winters as members of the Hyalomma in a belt from Senegal to Somalia marginatum complex, most probably and breeds in southern Europe and H. rufi pes and H. marginatum sensu northern Africa (9). The Antikythira

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