UMR 7206 CNRS/MNHN/P7, Eco-anthropologie, Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Musée de l'Homme, 17 Place du Trocadéro, 75116, Paris, France.
Sebitoli Chimpanzee Project, Great Ape Conservation Project, Kibale National Park, Fort Portal, Uganda.
Parasit Vectors. 2023 Jan 22;16(1):22. doi: 10.1186/s13071-022-05632-w.
Ticks and tick-borne pathogens significantly impact both human and animal health and therefore are of major concern to the scientific community. Knowledge of tick-borne pathogens is crucial for prescription of mitigation measures. In Africa, much research on ticks has focused on domestic animals. Little is known about ticks and their pathogens in wild habitats and wild animals like the endangered chimpanzee, our closest relative.
In this study, we collected ticks in the forested habitat of a community of 100 chimpanzees living in Kibale National Park, Western Uganda, and assessed how their presence and abundance are influenced by environmental factors. We used non-invasive methods of flagging the vegetation and visual search of ticks both on human team members and in chimpanzee nests. We identified adult and nymph ticks through morphological features. Molecular techniques were used to detect and identify tick-borne piroplasmids and bacterial pathogens.
A total of 470 ticks were collected, which led to the identification of seven tick species: Haemaphysalis parmata (68.77%), Amblyomma tholloni (20.70%), Ixodes rasus sensu lato (7.37%), Rhipicephalus dux (1.40%), Haemaphysalis punctaleachi (0.70%), Ixodes muniensis (0.70%) and Amblyomma paulopunctatum (0.35%). The presence of ticks, irrespective of species, was influenced by temperature and type of vegetation but not by relative humidity. Molecular detection revealed the presence of at least six genera of tick-borne pathogens (Babesia, Theileria, Borrelia, Cryptoplasma, Ehrlichia and Rickettsia). The Afrotopical tick Amblyomma tholloni found in one chimpanzee nest was infected by Rickettsia sp.
In conclusion, this study presented ticks and tick-borne pathogens in a Ugandan wildlife habitat whose potential effects on animal health remain to be elucidated.
蜱虫和蜱传病原体对人类和动物的健康都有重大影响，因此是科学界关注的主要问题。了解蜱传病原体对于制定缓解措施至关重要。在非洲，许多关于蜱虫的研究都集中在家畜上。对于野生动物栖息地和野生动物（如濒危的黑猩猩，我们最亲近的物种）中的蜱虫及其病原体知之甚少。
在这项研究中，我们在乌干达西部基巴莱国家公园一个有 100 只黑猩猩生活的社区的森林栖息地中收集了蜱虫，并评估了环境因素对它们的存在和丰度的影响。我们使用了标记植被的非侵入性方法和对人类团队成员和黑猩猩巢穴中的蜱虫的目视搜索。我们通过形态特征来识别成蜱和若蜱。使用分子技术来检测和鉴定蜱传巴贝斯虫和细菌病原体。
共收集了 470 只蜱虫，鉴定出了七种蜱虫：硬蜱（68.77%）、安氏硬蜱（20.70%）、拉氏锐缘蜱（7.37%）、钝缘蜱（1.40%）、嗜人革蜱（0.70%）、伊氏曼尼希血蜱（0.70%）和安氏硬蜱（0.35%）。无论物种如何，蜱虫的存在都受到温度和植被类型的影响，但不受相对湿度的影响。分子检测显示存在至少六种蜱传病原体（巴贝斯虫、泰勒虫、伯氏疏螺旋体、克里普托体、埃立克体和立克次体）的属。在一个黑猩猩巢中发现的一种非洲热带蜱虫安氏硬蜱感染了立克次体。
总之，本研究介绍了乌干达野生动物栖息地中的蜱虫和蜱传病原体，它们对动物健康的潜在影响仍有待阐明。
