Detection of <i>Anaplasma phagocytophilum</i> from Wild Boars and Deer in Japan

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the prevalence and geographic distribution of Anaplasma phagocytophilum, the causative agent of human granulocytic anaplasmosis, in wild deer and boars in Japan. We analyzed the blood samples of the study animals using PCR-targeting the 16S rDNA followed by DNA sequencing. Wild deer infected with Anaplasma spp., including Anaplasma bovis and Anaplasma centrale were detected in the region from Hokkaido to Kyushu. The infection rates of A. phagocytophilum, A. bovis, and A. centrale in deer were 15.6, 21.9, and 37.5%, respectively, and the corresponding infection rates in wild boar were 3.6, 17.9, and 3.6%, respectively. However, p44/msp2 genes specific to A. phagocytophilum were not detected among the 16S rDNA-positive samples on PCR analysis. In addition, the 16S rDNA sequences of A. phagocytophilum were 100% similar to those detected previously in the deer in Japan and 98.6% similar to those of A. phagocytophilum detected in the United States and Europe, and from the tick, Ixodes ovatus and Ixodes persulcatus in Japan. These findings suggested that the A. phagocytophilum-related sequences detected from deer and wild boars in Japan were different from those of typical A. phagocytophilum strains.