Abstract
BackgroundA wide variety of pathogens could be maintained and transmitted by Haemaphysalis longicornis. The aim of this study is to systematically examine the variety of pathogens carried by Haemaphysalis longicornis, an importnatn vector, in tick-borne diseases epidemic area, and to estimate the risk of human infection imposed by tick bites.MethodsAdult questing ticks were collected in Xinyang, central China. Genomic DNA and RNA were extracted from 144 H. longicornis ticks individually, and sequenced respectively as the templates for high-throughput sequencing. Clean reads were compared against the database of NCBI nucleotide collection and specific PCR was performed to confirm the presence of pathogen. Phylogenetic analysis was performed to explore the evolutionary status of pathogens.ResultsThe assignment of reads to taxa based on BLASTN results revealed the existence of several potential pathogens, including Anaplasma spp., Rickettsia spp., Babesia sp., as well as severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome bunyavirus (SFTSV). Comfirmantory PCR assays revealed the existence of Anaplasma bovis (13/144, 9.03%), Anaplasma centrale (2/144, 1.39%), Rickettsia heilongjiangensis (3/144, 2.08%), Rickettsia sp. LON-13 (1/144, 0.69%), Rickettsia raoultii (5/144, 3.47%), Babesia sp. (1/144, 0.69%). SFTSV accounted for the highest detected pathogen with a positive rate of 18.75% (27/144). Three of the ticks (2.08%) were co-infected with SFTSV and A. bovis.ConclusionOur study provided a broadened list of microorganism that harbored by H. longicornis. In previously unrecognized endemic regions, prokaryotic and eukaryotic infection including Anaplasma spp., Rickettsiae spp., and Babesia spp. should be considered, along with the well-known SFTSV for patients with tick bites history. A novel Babesia species was identified in local natural foci, which needs further investigation in the future.
Highlights
A wide variety of pathogens could be maintained and transmitted by Haemaphysalis longicornis
A remarkable example is the novel phlebovirus in the Bunyaviridae family, which was newly identified to be a causal agent of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) in China and other neighbouring countries [8,9,10]
The assignment of unassembled sequence reads to taxa based on BLASTN results revealed the existence of several pathogens, including Anaplasma spp., Rickettsia spp., Babesia spp., as well as severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome bunyavirus (SFTSV) (Table 2)
Summary
A wide variety of pathogens could be maintained and transmitted by Haemaphysalis longicornis. The aim of this study is to systematically examine the variety of pathogens carried by Haemaphysalis longicornis, an importnatn vector, in tick-borne diseases epidemic area, and to estimate the risk of human infection imposed by tick bites. H. longicornis, the most prevelant tick species that infests human in SFTS-endemic areas, was determined to be a competent vector of SFTSV by an experimental maintenance and transmission study [11]. In this context, we performed a metagenomic analysis to provide an inventory of predicted and unexpected pathogenic agents carried by H. longicornis ticks, captured in Xinyang Administrative Area, Henan Province in central China
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