Detection of Tick-borne Bacteria and Babesia with Zoonotic Potential in Argas (Carios) Vespertilionis (Latreille, 1802) Ticks from British Bats

Overview

Journal Sci Rep

Specialty Science

Date 2018 Feb 1

PMID 29382871

Citations 19

Authors

Jizhou Lv

Maria Del Mar Fernandez de Marco

Hooman Goharriz

L Paul Phipps

Lorraine M McElhinney

Luis M Hernandez-Triana

Shaoqiang Wu

Xiangmei Lin

Anthony R Fooks

Nicholas Johnson

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Ticks host a wide range of zoonotic pathogens and are a significant source of diseases that affect humans and livestock. However, little is known about the pathogens associated with bat ticks. We have collected ectoparasites from bat carcasses over a seven year period. Nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) were extracted from 296 ticks removed from bats and the species designation was confirmed in all ticks as Argas (Carios) vespertilionis. A subset of these samples (n = 120) were tested for the presence of zoonotic pathogens by molecular methods. Babesia species, Rickettsia spp., within the spotted fever group (SFG), and Ehrlichia spp. were detected in ticks removed from 26 bats submitted from 14 counties across England. The prevalence of Rickettsia spp. was found to be highest in Pipistrellus pipistrellus from southern England. This study suggests that the tick species that host B. venatorum may include the genus Argas in addition to the genus Ixodes. As A. vespertilionis has been reported to feed on humans, detection of B. venatorum and SFG Rickettsia spp. could present a risk of disease transmission in England. No evidence for the presence of flaviviruses or Issyk-Kul virus (nairovirus) was found in these tick samples.

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