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Transmission Efficiency of the AP‐Variant 1 Strain of Anaplasma phagocytophila
Author(s) -
MASSUNG ROBERT F.,
MATHER THOMAS N.,
PRIESTLEY RACHAEL A.,
LEVIN MICHAEL L.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2003.tb07340.x
Subject(s) - peromyscus , biology , ixodes scapularis , anaplasma , anaplasma phagocytophilum , virology , rickettsiales , dna sequencing , anaplasmataceae , ehrlichia , natural reservoir , anaplasmosis , dna , gene , tick , genetics , ixodidae , zoology , antibody , borrelia burgdorferi , outbreak
A bstract : Nymphal Ixodes scapularis ticks were collected from several sites in Rhode Island. DNA was extracted from a subset of these ticks, and PCR and DNA sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene were used to determine the ratio of Anaplasma phagocytophila ‐human agent (AP‐ha) to a genetic variant not associated with human disease (AP‐Variant 1). The remaining ticks were allowed to feed to repletion on either white‐footed ( Peromyscus leucopus ) or DBA/2 ( Mus musculus ) mice. The engorged ticks, and blood samples drawn from each mouse at one‐week intervals, were evaluated by PCR and DNA sequencing for the presence of AP‐ha and Variant 1. Although a high percentage of the infecting ticks harbored AP‐Variant 1, only AP‐ha was amplified from the mouse blood samples. Because the A. phagocytophila variant did not establish an infection either in the natural reservoir of AP‐ha, the white‐footed mouse, or in a common research laboratory mouse (DBA/2), AP‐Variant 1 may have an alternative natural reservoir, possibly the white‐tailed deer.