Pajoro Massimo, Pistone Dario, Varotto Boccazzi Ilaria, Mereghetti Valeria, Bandi Claudio, Fabbi Massimo, Scattorin Francesco, Sassera Davide, Montagna Matteo
Pediatric Clinical Research Center Romeo ed Enrica Invernizzi, University of Milano, Italy.
University of South Bohemia, Faculty of Science, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic.
Folia Parasitol (Praha). 2018 Jun 15;65:2018.008. doi: 10.14411/fp.2018.008.
Migratory birds have an important role in transporting ticks and associated tick-borne pathogens over long distances. In this study, 2,793 migratory birds were captured by nets in a ringing station, located in northern Italy, and checked for the presence of ticks. Two-hundred and fifty-one ticks were identified as nymphs and larvae of Ixodes ricinus (Linnaeus, 1758) and they were PCR-screened for the presence of bacteria belonging to Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, Rickettsia spp., Francisella tularensis and Coxiella burnetii. Four species of Borrelia (B. garinii, B. afzelii, B. valaisiana and B. lusitaniae) and three species of Rickettsia (R. monacensis, R. helvetica and Candidatus Rickettsia mendelii) were detected in 74 (30%) and 25 (10%) respectively out of 251 ticks examined. Co-infection with Borrelia spp. and Rickettsia spp. in the same tick sample was encountered in 7 (7%) out of the 99 infected ticks. We report for the first time the presence of Candidatus Rickettsia mendelii in I. ricinus collected on birds in Italy. This study, besides confirming the role of birds in dispersal of I. ricinus, highlights an important route by which tick-borne pathogens might spread across different countries and from natural environments towards urbanised areas.
候鸟在长距离传播蜱虫及相关蜱传病原体方面发挥着重要作用。在本研究中，位于意大利北部的一个环志站用网捕获了2793只候鸟，并检查它们是否携带蜱虫。251只蜱虫被鉴定为蓖麻硬蜱（Ixodes ricinus，林奈，1758年）的若虫和幼虫，对它们进行了聚合酶链反应（PCR）筛查，以检测是否存在属于伯氏疏螺旋体狭义种（Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato）、立克次体属（Rickettsia spp.）、土拉弗朗西斯菌（Francisella tularensis）和贝氏柯克斯体（Coxiella burnetii）的细菌。在所检测的251只蜱虫中，分别在74只（30%）和25只（10%）蜱虫中检测到了4种疏螺旋体（伽氏疏螺旋体、阿氏疏螺旋体、瓦氏疏螺旋体和卢西塔尼亚疏螺旋体）和3种立克次体（蒙氏立克次体、瑞士立克次体和暂定门氏立克次体）。在99只受感染的蜱虫中，有7只（7%）的蜱虫样本同时感染了疏螺旋体属和立克次体属。我们首次报告在意大利鸟类身上采集的蓖麻硬蜱中发现了暂定门氏立克次体。这项研究除了证实鸟类在蓖麻硬蜱传播中的作用外，还突出了蜱传病原体可能跨越不同国家并从自然环境向城市化地区传播的一条重要途径。
