A divergent variant in an tick from a migratory bird; Mediterranean basin.

(AP) has vast geographical and host ranges and causes disease in humans and domesticated animals. We investigated the role of northward migratory birds in the dispersal of tick-borne AP in the African-Western Palearctic. Ticks were collected from northward migratory birds trapped during spring migration of 2010 at two localities in the central Mediterranean Sea. AP DNA was detected by PCR ( and 16S rRNA) and variant determination was performed using sequences. In total, 358 ticks were collected. One of 19 ticks determined as was confirmed positive for AP DNA. The tick was collected from a woodchat shrike () trapped in Greece, and molecularly determined to belong to the complex and sharing highest (95%) 16S RNA sequence identity to . The AP sequence exhibited highest similarity to sequences from rodents and shrews (82%) and ruminants (80%). Phylogenetic analyses placed it convincingly outside other clades, suggesting that it represents a novel AP variant. The divergent species harboring a novel AP variant could either indicate an enzootic cycle involving co-evolution with birds, or dissemination from other regions by avian migration. None of the 331 sensu lato ticks, all immature stages, were positive for AP DNA, lending no evidence for the involvement of ticks transported by birds in the ecology of AP.