Obregón Dasiel, Corona-González Belkis, Díaz-Sánchez Adrian Alberto, Armas Yasmani, Roque Eugenio, de Sena Oliveira Márcia Cristina, Cabezas-Cruz Alejandro
School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada.
Center for Nuclear Energy in Agriculture, University of São Paulo, Piracicaba, São Paulo 13400-970, Brazil.
Pathogens. 2020 Apr 11;9(4):280. doi: 10.3390/pathogens9040280.
Water buffaloes can be infected by tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) in endemic areas where cattle and buffalo coexist. Among TBPs affecting buffaloes is the Apicomplexan hemoparasites and , transmitted by ticks. However, little empirical evidence exists on whether buffalo can support TBPs' infection and transmission. A cohort study was designed to measure the infestation levels of in buffaloes as well as the ability of buffalo-fed ticks to transmit and to their offspring. Tick infestation of different life stages was quantified in cattle and buffalo kept in field conditions in western Cuba. Engorged adult female ticks were allowed to lay eggs in controlled conditions of humidity and temperature, and reproductive parameters were measured and analyzed. Hosts and tick larvae were tested for the presence of spp. using species-specific qPCR assays. Tick infestation was not observed in adult buffaloes. However, buffalo and cattle calves were equally infested, although the larval survival rate was higher in cattle calves than in buffalo calves. All larval pools (31) obtained from the adult female ticks were positive for whereas only 68% (21/31) was positive for . Among the 10 larval pools negative for , three proceeded from adult females fed on -negative buffaloes. The other seven pools were from -positive animals, three from cattle and four from buffalo calves. infection levels in tick larvae, quantified by qPCR, were similar in female ticks fed on buffalo and bovine calves. We conclude that water buffalo can sustain tick vector populations and support infection in levels high enough as to be infective for ticks. Our results also validated the hypothesis that adult female ticks fed on buffalo can transmit the pathogens and to their offspring. Nevertheless, further laboratory studies are needed to address the question of whether the transovarial transmission of occurs in the following settings: (1) When adult females are infected previous to the feeding on the buffalo or/and (2) when the adult females acquire the infection while feeding on the buffalo.
在牛和水牛共存的流行地区，水牛可能会被蜱传播的病原体（TBPs）感染。影响水牛的TBPs包括顶复门血液寄生虫和，由蜱传播。然而，关于水牛是否能支持TBPs的感染和传播，几乎没有实证证据。一项队列研究旨在测量水牛体内的感染水平，以及吸食水牛血的蜱将和传播给其后代的能力。在古巴西部野外条件下饲养的牛和水牛中，对不同生命阶段的蜱感染情况进行了量化。让饱血的成年雌蜱在湿度和温度可控的条件下产卵，并对生殖参数进行测量和分析。使用物种特异性qPCR检测法检测宿主和蜱幼虫中是否存在 spp.。在成年水牛中未观察到蜱感染。然而，水牛犊和牛犊的感染程度相同，尽管牛犊的幼虫存活率高于水牛犊。从成年雌蜱获得的所有幼虫池（31个）对均呈阳性，而对呈阳性的仅为68%（21/31）。在10个对呈阴性的幼虫池中，有3个来自吸食阴性水牛血的成年雌蜱。其他7个池来自阳性动物，3个来自牛，4个来自水牛犊。通过qPCR量化的蜱幼虫中的感染水平，在吸食水牛犊和牛犊血的雌蜱中相似。我们得出结论，水牛能够维持蜱媒种群，并支持感染至足以感染蜱的高水平。我们的结果还验证了这样一个假设，即吸食水牛血的成年雌蜱可以将病原体和传播给其后代。然而，还需要进一步的实验室研究来解决以下问题：（1）成年雌蜱在吸食水牛血之前是否感染了，和/或（2）成年雌蜱在吸食水牛血时是否感染。
