Co-existence of Multiple Species and Variants in Ticks Feeding on Hedgehogs or Cattle Poses Potential Threats of Anaplasmosis to Humans and Livestock in Eastern China.

BACKGROUND

spp., causative agents of anaplasmosis, pose significant a threat to public health and economic losses in livestock farming. Co-infections/co-existence of various spp. may facilitate pathogen interactions and the emergence of novel variants, represent potential dangers to public health and economic losses from livestock farming, and raise challenges of detection and diagnosis. The information regarding co-infection/co-existence of in their vector ticks and wild animals is limited and needs urgent investigation.

METHODS

Wild hedgehogs and ticks from hedgehogs and cattle were collected from Jiangsu province, Eastern China, and DNA was extracted from hedgehog organs and tick homogenates. Various genera of species-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or nested PCR amplifications targeting 16S ribosomal RNA (), , or gene coupled with sequencing were conducted to identify spp.

RESULTS

(1, 0.6%), (2, 1.2%), variants xyn10pt-1 (13, 7.7%), xyn21pt-2 (3, 1.8%), and xyn3pt-3 (3, 1.8%), variant cwp72bo-1 (12, 7.1%), and a novel Cryptoplasma sp. (1, 0.6%) were identified in 168 ticks from cattle. variant xyn10pt-1 (20, 11.4%) and variants cwp72bo-1 (12, 6.9%) and cwp55-36bo-2 (1, 0.6%) were detected in 173 ticks from hedgehogs. However, only variant cwp72bo-1 (15, 46.7%) was identified in 32 hedgehogs. Various co-existence combinations were found only in ticks.

CONCLUSION

The co-existence of various spp. and variants in and was detected for the first time in the world. The high infection rate of in hedgehogs and its moderate infection rate in their parasitic ticks suggest that hedgehog could be an important reservoir of , rather than . Horizontal transmission of spp. may exist among different tick species their shared hosts in the investigated area. This study provided epidemiological data that could be crucial for strategy development for early warning, prevention, and control of potential infections.