Santos-Silva Maria Margarida, Sousa Rita, Santos Ana Sofia, Melo Pedro, Encarnação Victor, Bacellar Fátima
Centro de Estudos de Vectores e Doenças Infecciosas, Instituto Nacional de Saúde Dr. Ricardo Jorge, Avenida da Liberdade 5, 2965-575, Aguas de Moura, Portugal.
Exp Appl Acarol. 2006;39(3-4):331-8. doi: 10.1007/s10493-006-9008-3. Epub 2006 Aug 3.
From January 2002 to December 2004, 152 ticks were collected from 40 wild birds recovered in Santo André Natural Reserve and Monsanto Forestal Park, Portugal mainland. Five ticks species were identified from 22 species of birds, and new host record were provided for some species. In addition, 32 (21%) ticks were screened by PCR to detect infections with agents belonging to order Rickettsiales: Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Ehrlichia chaffeensis, and Rickettsia spp. PCR amplicons were obtained in 5 (15.6%) tick samples. Rickettsia DNA exhibiting gltA sequences similar to those of Rickettsia aeschilimannii, R. helvetica and R. massiliae were identified in Hyalomma marginatum, Ixodes ventalloi and in Rhipicephalus turanicus, respectively. This is the first report of rickettsiae infections in ticks collected from wild birds in Portugal. Giving the results presented above wild birds play an important role in the maintenance and dissemination of several tick species and associated rickettsiae.
2002年1月至2004年12月，从葡萄牙大陆圣安德烈自然保护区和蒙桑托森林公园捕获的40只野生鸟类身上采集了152只蜱虫。从22种鸟类身上鉴定出5种蜱虫，并为一些蜱虫物种提供了新的宿主记录。此外，对32只（21%）蜱虫进行了PCR检测，以检测是否感染了立克次氏体目病原体：嗜吞噬细胞无形体、查菲埃立克体和立克次氏体属。在5只（15.6%）蜱虫样本中获得了PCR扩增产物。分别在边缘璃眼蜱、文氏硬蜱和图兰扇头蜱中鉴定出与埃塞俄比亚立克次氏体、瑞士立克次氏体和马赛立克次氏体gltA序列相似的立克次氏体DNA。这是葡萄牙首次关于从野生鸟类身上采集的蜱虫感染立克次氏体的报告。鉴于上述结果，野生鸟类在多种蜱虫物种及相关立克次氏体的维持和传播中发挥着重要作用。
