Abstract
Worldwide, ticks are important vectors of human and animal pathogens. Besides Lyme Borreliosis, a variety of other bacterial and protozoal tick-borne infections are of medical interest in Europe. In this study, 553 questing and feeding Ixodes ricinus (n = 327) and Dermacentor reticulatus ticks (n = 226) were analysed by PCR for Borrelia, Rickettsia, Anaplasma, Coxiella, Francisella and Babesia species. Overall, the pathogen prevalence in ticks was 30.6% for I. ricinus and 45.6% for D. reticulatus. The majority of infections were caused by members of the spotted-fever group rickettsiae (24.4%), 9.4% of ticks were positive for Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, with Borrelia afzelii being the most frequently detected species (40.4%). Pathogens with low prevalence rates in ticks were Anaplasma phagocytophilum (2.2%), Coxiella burnetii (0.9%), Francisella tularensis subspecies (0.7%), Bartonella henselae (0.7%), Babesia microti (0.5%) and Babesia venatorum (0.4%). On a regional level, hotspots of pathogens were identified for A. phagocytophilum (12.5–17.2%), F. tularensis ssp. (5.5%) and C. burnetii (9.1%), suggesting established zoonotic cycles of these pathogens at least at these sites. Our survey revealed a high burden of tick-borne pathogens in questing and feeding I. ricinus and D. reticulatus ticks collected in different regions in Belarus, indicating a potential risk for humans and animals. Identified hotspots of infected ticks should be included in future surveillance studies, especially when F. tularensis ssp. and C. burnetii are involved.
Highlights
IntroductionIn Eastern Europe, Lyme Borreliosis (LB) is a major public health threat with annual incidence rates ranging from 4.8 (Poland) to 35 (Lithuania) cases per 100.000 population [1]
Throughout the world, ticks are important vectors of human and animal pathogens
In questing I. ricinus ticks, we observed a prevalence of Rickettsia species of 11.7%, which was similar to that reported from questing adult I. ricinus ticks from Poland (7.8–11.1%) and Slovakia (6.1%) [9,11,29]
Summary
In Eastern Europe, Lyme Borreliosis (LB) is a major public health threat with annual incidence rates ranging from 4.8 (Poland) to 35 (Lithuania) cases per 100.000 population [1]. In the neighbouring countries of Belarus, the prevalence of Borrelia species in questing Ixodes ticks ranges from 6.2% in Poland, 11% in Lithuania to 40.7% in Russia and 18– 51% in Latvia [3,4,5,6]. No such prevalence data are available for Belarus, but the three human pathogenic Borrelia species have been isolated from ticks before [7]
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