Abstract
Tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) are considered zoonotic re-emerging pathogens, with ticks playing important roles in their transmission and ecology. Previous studies in South Korea have examined TBPs residing in ticks; however, there is no phylogenetic information on TBPs in ticks parasitizing native Korean goat (NKG; Capra hircus coreanae). The present study assessed the prevalence, risk factors, and co-infectivity of TBPs in ticks parasitizing NKGs. In total, 107 hard ticks, including Haemaphysalis longicornis, Ixodes nipponensis, and Haemaphysalis flava, were obtained from NKGs in South Korea between 2016 and 2019. In 40 tested tick pools, genes for four TBPs, namely Coxiella-like endosymbiont (CLE, 5.0%), Candidatus Rickettsia longicornii (45.0%), Anaplasma bovis (2.5%), and Theileria luwenshuni (5.0%) were detected. Ehrlichia, Bartonella spp., and severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus were not detected. To our knowledge, this is the first study to report CLE and T. luwenshuni in H. flava ticks in South Korea. Considering the high prevalence of Candidatus R. longicornii in ticks parasitizing NKGs, there is a possibility of its transmission from ticks to animals and humans. NKG ticks might be maintenance hosts for TBPs, and we recommend evaluation of the potential public health threat posed by TBP-infected ticks.
Highlights
Ticks are considered the main arthropod vectors for infectious disease agents, and they are related to important veterinary and medical health issues [1]
tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) are preserved in stable natural cycles that involve domestic and/or wild animals and ticks, humans might be considered accidental hosts [3]
A phylogenetic tree was created according to the cox1 genes of several ticks deposited in GenBank, and the collected ticks were divided into three clades related to the following three species (Figure 1): H. longicornis (62.5%, 25/40 pools), H. flava
Summary
Ticks are considered the main arthropod vectors for infectious disease agents, and they are related to important veterinary and medical health issues [1]. Numerous emergent tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) had been circulating in animals and ticks long before their detection as causes of clinical diseases [2]. TBPs are preserved in stable natural cycles that involve domestic and/or wild animals and ticks, humans might be considered accidental hosts [3]. The control of transmission of zoonotic pathogens with regard to vertebrate hosts and ticks, which are related in a continually changing environment, is usually difficult because of habitat distributions, zoonotic/domestic hosts, and transmission cycles in regions with coexistence of pastured domestic animals and wild animals [4]. Understanding the ecology of local tick species and recognizing TBPs have high health significance The global hazard of TBPs is continuing to increase and is raising public health worries, with the constant identification of new pathogens over the past 20 years [5].
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