Abstract
A total of 278 Ixodes ticks, collected from Madeira Island and Setubal District, mainland Portugal, were examined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the presence of Anaplasma phagocytophilum. Six (4%) of 142 Ixodes ricinus nymphs collected in Madeira Island and 1 nymph and 1 male (2%) of 93 I. ventalloi collected in Setubal District tested positive for A. phagocytophilum msp2 genes or rrs. Infection was not detected among 43 I. ricinus on mainland Portugal. All PCR products were confirmed by nucleotide sequencing to be identical or to be most closely related to A. phagocytophilum. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence of A. phagocytophilum in ticks from Setubal District, mainland Portugal, and the first documentation of Anaplasma infection in I. ventalloi. Moreover, these findings confirm the persistence of A. phagocytophilum in Madeira Island's I. ricinus.
Highlights
A total of 278 Ixodes ticks were tested for A. phagocytophilum DNA, including 142 I. ricinus from Madeira Island and 43 I. ricinus and 93 I. ventalloi from Setúbal District
polymerase chain reaction (PCR) performed with the msp2 primers detected A. phagocytophilum DNA in seven pools of nymphs and in 1 male I. ventalloi from site 3, Setúbal District, as demonstrated by the characteristic 550bp band
PCR test results were negative for all I. ricinus collected in the sites in Setúbal District
Summary
A. phagocytophilum is associated with Ixodes ticks that are known vectors, including I. scapularis, I. pacificus, and I. spinipalpis in the United States [15,20,21], I. ricinus mostly in southern, central and northern European regions [22,23,24,25,26], I. trianguliceps in the United Kingdom [27], and Ixodes persulcatus in eastern parts of Europe [28] and Asia [9]. In Portugal little information is available concerning the epidemiology of A. phagocytophilum; the agent was documented only once in I. ricinus ticks from Madeira Island (Núncio MS, et al, unpub data). The purpose of this study was to investigate both the persistence of A. phagocytophilum on Madeira Island, where it was initially described, and the presence of the agent in Ixodes ticks from mainland Portugal
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