Abstract
BackgroundFour species within Anaplasma genus are emerging zoonotic pathogens, which are transmitted by ticks and generate veterinary and public health concerns. Here, we performed a molecular survey of Anaplasma in Ankang, Northwest China.MethodsHard ticks were collected and identified using morphological and molecular methods. Human-pathogenic Anaplasma species were tested using nested polymerase chain reaction. The nearly complete rrs, gltA, and groEL genes sequences from revealed Anaplasma species were amplified and sequenced to determine their molecular characteristics and their phylogeny.ResultsAll ticks collected in Ankang belonged to the Rhipicephalus microplus. Novel unclassified Anaplasma strains genetically related to A. platys and A. capra were detected in these ticks. Co-infection of these two organisms was also found. The novel unclassified Anaplasma strains identified in this study formed a distinct phylogenetic lineage based on the groEL gene and two lineages based on the gltA gene within A. platys and related strains group. The revealed A. capra strains identified in this study were most closely related to those detected in humans and other vertebrate animals.ConclusionWe revealed the presence of A. capra, a novel human pathogens in R. microplus ticks in previously unrecognized endemic regions. We also detected a novel unclassified Anaplasma species genetically related to A. platys. The epidemiology of anaplasmosis caused by these two Anaplasma species in humans should be assessed in future studies.
Highlights
Four species within Anaplasma genus are emerging zoonotic pathogens, which are transmitted by ticks and generate veterinary and public health concerns
The DNA of A. capra has been detected in R. microplus in Wuhan, China [36], whereas A. platys-like strains were identified in R. microplus and R. turanicus [36, 49]
R. microplus ticks were found infected with A. capra and A. platys-like strains by conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequencing
Summary
Four species within Anaplasma genus are emerging zoonotic pathogens, which are transmitted by ticks and generate veterinary and public health concerns. We performed a molecular survey of Anaplasma in Ankang, Northwest China. Since 1982, several classified species and unclassified strains belonging to Anaplasma genus have been reported in ticks and mammals from China [3, 8, 9]. Human-pathogenic species and unclassified strains within Anaplasma have been identified, including A. capra, A. ovis, A. phagocytophlum, and A. platys. In Northwest China, molecular epidemiological surveys confirmed the presence of the four Anaplasma species mentioned above: A. phagocytophilum and A. ovis in Qinghai Province; A. ovis in Tibet [11]; A. platys, A. ovis, and A. capra in Gansu Province [12,13,14]; and A. platys and A. ovis in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region [15,16,17]
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