J 2016

Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis in ticks and rodents from urban and natural habitats of South-Western Slovakia

HAMŠÍKOVÁ SVITÁLKOVÁ, Zuzana, Danka HARUŠTIAKOVÁ, Lenka MAHRÍKOVÁ, Michala MOJŠOVÁ, Lenka BERTHOVÁ et. al.

Basic information

Original name

Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis in ticks and rodents from urban and natural habitats of South-Western Slovakia

Authors

HAMŠÍKOVÁ SVITÁLKOVÁ, Zuzana (703 Slovakia), Danka HARUŠTIAKOVÁ (703 Slovakia, guarantor, belonging to the institution), Lenka MAHRÍKOVÁ (703 Slovakia), Michala MOJŠOVÁ (703 Slovakia), Lenka BERTHOVÁ (703 Slovakia), Mirko SLOVÁK (703 Slovakia), Elena KOCIANOVÁ (703 Slovakia), Muriel VAYSSIER-TAUSSAT (250 France) and Mária KAZIMÍROVÁ (703 Slovakia)

Edition

Parasites & Vectors, London, Biomed Central LTD, 2016, 1756-3305

Other information

Language

English

Type of outcome

Článek v odborném periodiku

Field of Study

10600 1.6 Biological sciences

Country of publisher

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Confidentiality degree

není předmětem státního či obchodního tajemství

Impact factor

Impact factor: 3.035

RIV identification code

RIV/00216224:14110/16:00089271

Organization unit

Faculty of Medicine

UT WoS

000367572500002

Keywords in English

Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis; Ixodes ricinus ; Rodents; Tick-borne Pathogen

Tags

Tags

International impact, Reviewed
Změněno: 2/8/2016 14:59, Ing. Mgr. Věra Pospíšilíková

Abstract

V originále

Background Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis (CNM) is an emerging tick-borne pathogen causing severe disease in immunocompromised patients. In Europe, Ixodes ricinus is the primary vector and rodents act as reservoir hosts. New data on the prevalence of CNM in ticks and rodents contribute to the knowledge on the distribution of endemic areas and circulation of the bacterium in natural foci. Methods Questing ticks were collected and rodents were trapped in urban/suburban and natural habitats in South-Western Slovakia from 2011 to 2014. DNA from questing and rodent-attached ticks and rodent tissues were screened for CNM by real-time PCR. Rodent spleen samples positive for CNM were characterised at the groEL gene locus. Spatial and temporal differences in CNM prevalence in ticks and rodents and co-infections of ticks with CNM and Anaplasma phagocytophilum were analysed. Results The presence of CNM was confirmed in questing and rodent-attached I. ricinus ticks and in rodents. Total prevalence in both ticks and rodents was significantly higher in the natural habitat (2.3 % and 10.1 %, respectively) than in the urban/suburban habitat (1.0 % and 3.3 %, respectively). No seasonal pattern in CNM prevalence in ticks was observed, but prevalence in rodents was higher in autumn than in spring. CNM was detected in Apodemus flavicollis, Myodes glareolus, Microtus arvalis and Micromys minutus, with the highest prevalence in M. arvalis (30 %). By screening CNM dissemination in rodent tissues, infection was detected in lungs of all specimens with positive spleens and in blood, kidney, liver and skin of part of those individuals. Infection with CNM was detected in 1.3 % of rodent attached I. ricinus ticks. Sequences of a fragment of the groEL gene from CNM-positive rodents showed a high degree of identity with sequences of the gene amplified from ticks and infected human blood from Europe. Only 0.1 % of CNM-positive questing ticks carried A. phagocytophilum. Ticks infected with CNM prevailed in the natural habitat (67.2 %), whereas ticks infected with A. phagocytophilum prevailed in the urban/suburban habitat (75.0 %). Conclusion The study confirmed the circulation of CNM between I. ricinus ticks and rodents in South-Western Slovakia, and indicates a potential risk of contracting human infections.