Presence of Roe Deer Affects the Occurrence of Anaplasma phagocytophilum Ecotypes in Questing Ixodes ricinus in Different Habitat Types of Central Europe

Zuzana Hamšíková, Cornelia Silaghi, Katsuhisa Takumi, Ivo Rudolf, Kristyna Gunár, Hein Sprong and Mária Kazimírová
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Zuzana Hamšíková: Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 84506 Bratislava, Slovakia
Cornelia Silaghi: Institute of Infectology, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute, Südufer 10, 17493 Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany
Katsuhisa Takumi: Laboratory for Zoonoses and Environmental Microbiology, National Institute for Public Health and Environment, Antonie van Leeuwenhoeklaan 9, P.O. Box 1, 3720 BA Bilthoven, The Netherlands
Ivo Rudolf: Institute of Vertebrate Biology, The Czech Academy of Sciences, Klášterní 2, 69142 Valtice, Czech Republic
Kristyna Gunár: Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, The Czech Academy of Sciences, Heyrovského nám. 1888/2, 16200 Prague 6, Czech Republic
Hein Sprong: Laboratory for Zoonoses and Environmental Microbiology, National Institute for Public Health and Environment, Antonie van Leeuwenhoeklaan 9, P.O. Box 1, 3720 BA Bilthoven, The Netherlands
Mária Kazimírová: Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 84506 Bratislava, Slovakia

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 23, 1-13

Abstract: The way in which European genetic variants of Anaplasma phagocytophilum circulate in their natural foci and which variants cause disease in humans or livestock remains thus far unclear. Red deer and roe deer are suggested to be reservoirs for some European A. phagocytophilum strains, and Ixodes ricinus is their principal vector. Based on groEL gene sequences, five A. phagocytophilum ecotypes have been identified. Ecotype I is associated with the broadest host range, including strains that cause disease in domestic animals and humans. Ecotype II is associated with roe deer and does not include zoonotic strains. In the present study, questing I. ricinus were collected in urban, pasture, and natural habitats in the Czech Republic, Germany, and Slovakia. A fragment of the msp2 gene of A. phagocytophilum was amplified by real-time PCR in DNA isolated from ticks. Positive samples were further analyzed by nested PCRs targeting fragments of the 16S rRNA and groEL genes, followed by sequencing. Samples were stratified according to the presence/absence of roe deer at the sampling sites. Geographic origin, habitat, and tick stage were also considered. The probability that A. phagocytophilum is a particular ecotype was estimated by a generalized linear model. Anaplasma phagocytophilum was identified by genetic typing in 274 I. ricinus ticks. The majority belonged to ecotype I (63.9%), 28.5% were ecotype II, and both ecotypes were identified in 7.7% of ticks. Ecotype II was more frequently identified in ticks originating from a site with presence of roe deer, whereas ecotype I was more frequent in adult ticks than in nymphs. Models taking into account the country-specific, site-specific, and habitat-specific aspects did not improve the goodness of the fit. Thus, roe deer presence in a certain site and the tick developmental stage are suggested to be the two factors consistently influencing the occurrence of a particular A. phagocytophilum ecotype in a positive I. ricinus tick.

Keywords: Anaplasma phagocytophilum; ecotype; Ixodes ricinus; deer (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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