Volume 8, Issue 9, September 2015, Pages 714–717
Open Access
Abstract
Objective
To determine the prevalence of zoonotic tick-borne bacteria in feeding ticks removed from hunted wild animals.
Methods
PCR was executed on DNA extracted from 77 tick pools to detect Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Bartonella spp., Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, Coxiella burnetii and Rickettsia spp.
Results
A total of 432 ticks were collected: 30 (6.94%) Haemaphysalis punctata, 72 (16.7%) Dermacentor marginatus and 330 (76.38%) Ixodes ricinus.
For each animal one or two pools of 3 ticks of the same species was
constituted. Seventy-seven tick pools were examined by PCR: 58 (75.32%)
resulted infected and among them 14 (18.18%) showed co-infections. In
particular, 29 (37.66%) pools were positive for Bartonella spp., 23 (29.87%) for Anaplasma phagocytophilum, 16 (20.78%) for Rickettsia spp., and 5 (6.49%) for Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. All samples were negative for Coxiella burnetii.
Conclusions
The
results demonstrate the presence of several zoonotic tick-borne
pathogens in the studied area, and underline the risk of exposure to
infections for hunters not only during the outdoor activity, but also
when they manipulate hunted animals infested by infected ticks.
Keywords
- Ixodid ticks;
- Tick-borne bacteria;
- Wild animals;
- PCR;
- Hunters
1. Introduction
Tuscany
is a region in central Italy characterized by the presence of wide
mountain, hill and plain areas, rich in vegetation, that are frequently
used for recreational activity, mainly hunting, mushrooms and chestnuts
collecting, and walking.
These
areas are home to several species of wild animals that are frequently
infested by ticks belonging to different species. The sheep tick Ixodes ricinus (I. ricinus) is the most common hard tick species found in these areas, as well as in the rest of Italy, but Dermacentor sp. [Dermacentor marginatus (D. marginatus)], Hyalomma sp., Haemaphysalis sp., Rhipicephalus sp. are present too.
These
hematophagous arthropods are often vectors of several tick-borne
agents. Among them, some bacteria are able to infect wild and domestic
animals, and humans in which may determine severe clinical forms. Lyme
disease by Borrelia burgdorferi (B. burgdorferi) sensu lato spirochetes, granulocytic anaplasmosis by Anaplasma phagocytophilum (A. phagocytophilum), and rickettsiosis due to rickettsiae belonging to the Spotted Fever Group are well known in human medicine [1].
Bartonellosis is a zoonotic vector-borne disease, that is traditionally associated to Bartonella henselae, etiologic agent of the Cat Scratch Disease. However, the genus Bartonella includes several species able to infect humans [2].
Coxiella burnetii (C. burnetii),
responsible for Q Fever, is transmitted through ingestion of
contaminated food, mainly dairy products, or inhalation of infected
aerosol, but infection due to infected ticks is possible, mainly in
areas where the arthropod population is abundant [3].
In
Italy, investigations on the prevalence of tick-transmitted pathogens
have been previously conducted testing ticks collected in wild and
urban/periurban habitats [4].
Hunters are at high risk of exposure to tick bites, because they
frequent habitat infested by arthropods, but they can be attached by
ticks also during manipulation of the carcasses of hunted animals.
The
aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of the main
zoonotic bacterial agents transmitted by hematophagous arthropods, in
particular A. phagocytophilum, Bartonella spp., B. burgdorferi s.l., C. burnetii and Rickettsia
spp., in ticks removed from hunted wild animals living in mountain and
hilly areas of Tuscany, central Italy, frequented by visitors for
hunting and other recreational activities.
