High Prevalence of Tick-Borne Zoonotic in Ticks from Wild Boars, Northeastern Italy.

Tick-borne rickettsiae are emerging pathogens that are becoming widespread in Europe. Rickettsiae are endemic in Italy, but epidemiological data are currently scarce. This study aimed to improve our knowledge about rickettsial infections in tick and wild boar populations. Blood and ticks were collected from 102 wild boars in 2010 and 2018. Ticks were also collected from the vegetation in the area. All of the samples were examined using real-time PCR targeting the gene to detect DNA. Positivity was confirmed by PCR amplifying the and/or genes. A total of 254 ticks and 89 blood samples were analyzed. Zoonotic rickettsiae were detected in the ticks but not in the blood samples. () was the most prevalent in ticks and was found in 23.7% of () and in 3.4% of (). Other zoonotic species were identified, such as , which was detected in 12% of ticks, and which was found in 3.4% of questing ticks and in 1.1% of collected from wild boars. This study highlights a high prevalence of zoonotic rickettsiae, particularly that of , in northeastern Italy. As rickettsioses are underreported and underdiagnosed in human medicine, both clinicians and researchers should pay more attention to this topic.