Detection of Spp., Spp., and in from Southern Xinjiang, China.

INTRODUCTION

Ticks are blood-sucking arthropods that have negative economic impacts and can spread a variety of diseases through their bites. There are few reports on soft ticks (Acari: Argasidae) and tick-borne pathogens in southern Xinjiang, China. This investigation supplements the available information for this region and is concerned with an argasid tick, apicomplexan parasites of the and genera and a bacterium of the genus.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

In this study, 330 soft ticks were collected from nine sampling sites in southern Xinjiang between 2020 and 2021. The ticks were identified according to their morphological characteristics and confirmed as using mitochondrial 16S rDNA sequences. and were identified at the species level based on two fragments of the 18S rRNA gene, and one set of primers targeting the 16S rRNA gene was used to identify the genus.

RESULTS

Among the 330 samples, one species ( sp.), two species ( and ), and one () species were detected.

CONCLUSION

This study provides fundamental evidence for the occurrence of , and spp. in soft ticks. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of the detection of sp. and in . Therefore, the potential threat of soft ticks to livestock and humans should not be ignored.