Zoonotic Tick-Borne Pathogens in Ticks from Vegetation and Alpine Ibex () in the Maritime Alps, Italy.

In the Maritime Alps (northwestern Italy), we collected ticks from vegetation and Alpine ibex (). was the most abundant species in the study area, questing up to 1824 m a.s.l. and infesting 28 out of 72 ibexes. and were also collected. The abundance of questing ticks significantly decreased with altitude, with beechwoods being the preferred habitat. By PCR, we identified s.l. in questing (28.3%; 95%CI: 19.4-38.6) but not in specimens collected from animals. spp. infected both questing (20.6%; 95%CI: 12.9-30.3) and on-host (30.2%; 95%CI: 21.2-40.4) was detected in 4.3% (95%CI: 1.2-10.8) of questing and in 45.3% (95%CI: 34.6-56.4) of collected from ibex. Female collected on animals were significantly more infected with than females collected from vegetation (OR = 11.7; 95%CI: 3.8-48.1). By amplifying and sequencing a fragment of the gene, we identified 13 haplotypes, clustering with ecotypes I and II; ecotype I, prevalent in our sample, is considered zoonotic. Our study demonstrates the presence of different tick-borne zoonotic agents in the study area, encompassing a wide altitudinal range, as confirmed by the ticks found on ibex, a typical mountain-dwelling mammal. The results also confirm the altitudinal range expansion of ticks and associated pathogens in the Alps and suggest that Alpine ibex may act as a reservoir for , as do other wild ungulate species.