Open AccessDistribution and molecular characterization of rickettsiae in ticks in Harbin area of Northeastern China
Author(s) -
JianWei Shao,
Xuelian Zhang,
Wenjun Li,
Hui-Lan Huang,
Jie Yan
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
plos neglected tropical diseases
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.99
H-Index - 135
eISSN - 1935-2735
pISSN - 1935-2727
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pntd.0008342
Subject(s) - ixodes persulcatus , biology , haemaphysalis , rickettsia , tick , dermacentor , rickettsiosis , haemaphysalis longicornis , spotted fever , ixodes , amblyomma , tick borne disease , zoology , ixodidae , veterinary medicine , virology , virus , medicine
Tick-borne rickettsioses are world-spreading infectious zoonoses. Ticks serve as reservoirs and vectors for Rickettsia and play a key role in transmission of rickettsioses. Most of the Chinese rickettsiosis patients are reported from Northeastern China but the distribution of tick and tick-borne Rickettsia species in Northeastern China remain poorly studied. In this study, a total of 1,286 ticks were captured from the seven counties of Harbin, an area in Northeastern China, and the tick-borne Rickettsia species were identified by PCR and sequencing of rrs , gltA , groEL , ompA and 17-kDa antigen-encoding genes. Of the 5 identified tick species, Haemaphysalis longicornis and Ixodes persulcatus were the predominant tick species in the livestock and vegetation, respectively. Rickettsia raoultii and “ Candidatus Rickettsia tarasevichiae” were the two detectable Rickettsia species in the ticks with a 28.8% positive rate but no rickettsiae were found in ticks of Haemaphysalis concinna . R . raoultii detected in 37.6% of the Dermacentor nuttalli , Dermacentor silvarum and H . longicornis ticks while “ Ca . R. tarasevichiae” was only present in 22.8% of the I . persulcatus ticks. In particular, the positive rate of both R . raoultii and “ Ca . R. tarasevichiae” in ticks from the livestock (40.7%) was significantly higher than that from the vegetation (19.5%). The results indicate that the tick and tick-borne Rickettsia species are diverse in different regions of Harbin due to geographic difference and the ticks from livestock may play a more important role in transmission of rickettsioses to human.