Molecular Characterization of Anaplasma, Ehrlichia, Babesia, and Borrelia in Ticks from Guangdong Province of Southern China

Announcing a new article publication for Zoonoses journal. Tick-borne pathogens have become emerging global health threats in humans and animals. The objective of this study was to investigate Anaplasma, Ehrlichia, Babesia, and Borrelia in ticks in southern China.

Ticks were collected from animals and identified to the species level. Tick-borne AnaplasmaEhrlichiaBabesia, and Borrelia were tested by PCR assays, and analyzed by sequencing and phylogenetics.

747 ticks were collected, including Rhipicephalus microplus (n=225) and R. sanguineus (n=522), from pet dogs in Guangdong Province of southern China. Using PCR and phylogenetic analysis we showed that these ticks carried Anaplasma platysEhrlichia canisBorrelia miyamotoiBabesia vogeli, and an unclassified Ehrlichia species in Rhipicephalus ticks. Of these pathogens, B. miyamotoi was first found in southern China. A. platysE. canis, and B. miyamotoi were zoonotic pathogens that infected both R. microplus and R. sanguineus, whereas Ba. vogeli only infected R. sanguineus, with a prevalence of 0.3%-1.5%.

The results of this study show diversity and complexity of tick-borne pathogens in Guangdong Province of southern China, implying the importance of tick-borne pathogen surveillance and control.

https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.15212/ZOONOSES-2023-0017

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eISSN 2737-7474

ISSN 2737-7466

Li Zhang, Zhengkai Wei and Li Ding et al. Molecular Characterization of Anaplasma, Ehrlichia, Babesia, and Borrelia in Ticks from Guangdong Province of Southern China. Zoonoses. 2023. Vol. 3(1). DOI: 10.15212/ZOONOSES-2023-0017