Investigation on Ehrlichia chaffeensis and Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection among farmers and domestic animals in rural areas of Beijing, China

Abstract

To investigate the status of Ehrlichia (E.) chaffeensis and Anaplasma (A.) phagocytophilum infection among farming populations and domestic animals in the rural area of Beijing, China. Blood samples from 562 farmers and 163 blood samples including 90 goats, 71 ox and 2 dogs, were collected. Specificity of IgG antibodies against E. chaffeensis and A. phagocytophilum were tested by micro-indirect immunofluorescent assay (mIFA). 16S rRNA genes of A. phagocytophilum were amplified from the domestic animal blood samples and products were sequenced and analyzed by nested PCR. The positive rates of E. chaffeensis and A. phagocytophilum antibody were 16.5% and 14.0% respectively for farmers. The total positive rates of A. phagocytophilum were 2.3% and 0 for both goats and oxen respectively. No antibody was found for the 2 tested dogs. The PCR positive rates were 48.9% and 23.9% for goats and oxen respectively. Three dominant varieties of A. phagocytophilum were demonstrated in goats and oxen. The prevalence rates of E. chaffeensis and A. phagocytophilum were identified in the rural areas of Beijing.