Khan Bisma, Batool Sidra, Shahnawaz Sadia, Ullah Shakir, Naeem Muhammad, Habiba Umme, Akhter Shaheen, Khan Adil, Iqbal Furhan
Department of Zoology, The Women University, Multan 60800, Pakistan.
Department of Zoology, Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan, Pakistan.
Vet Parasitol Reg Stud Reports. 2025 Jan;57:101147. doi: 10.1016/j.vprsr.2024.101147. Epub 2024 Nov 4.
Ticks are the second most important hematophagous ectoparasites after mosquitoes and serve as vectors for various pathogens, transmitting them to wild and domestic animals, as well as humans. Argas persicus are the soft ticks that are known to parasitize domestic poultry. Hard ticks are known to be the reservoir of Toxoplasma (T.) gondii but limited such information is available for soft ticks. This study reports the molecular prevalence and phylogenetic analysis of T. gondii infecting Argas (A.) persicus ticks (N = 70), collected from four domestic poultry breeds in the Kurram District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, between June and August 2023. The results showed that 26 out of 70 (37 %) A. persicus samples tested positive for the ITS-1 gene of T. gondii. These findings were confirmed by the DNA sequencing and BLAST analysis of amplified amplicons. Phylogenetic analysis showed that Pakistani isolates were genetically diverse and clustered with isolates that were reported from birds and mammals from Pakistan, Tunisia, Malaysia, Brazil and Iraq. Risk factor analysis indicated that the prevalence of T. gondii was not associated with any specific poultry breed, sampling period, or the body temperature of the fowl hosts. Similarly parasite prevalence was not found associated with tick sex or their developmental stage but parasite infection rate varied with the feeding status of the ticks; highest T. gondii infection rate was observed in fully fed Argas persicus. In conclusion, this is the first report from Pakistan highlighting a high prevalence of T. gondii in A. persicus infesting domestic poultry suggesting a potential zoonotic risk to humans through the consumption of infected poultry. This data is confirming that in addition to oral ingestion of oocysts, T. gondii can be mechanically transmitted through soft ticks.
蜱是仅次于蚊子的第二重要的吸血外寄生虫，是多种病原体的传播媒介，可将病原体传播给野生动物、家畜以及人类。波斯锐缘蜱是已知寄生于家禽的软蜱。硬蜱已知是刚地弓形虫的宿主，但关于软蜱的此类信息有限。本研究报告了2023年6月至8月期间从巴基斯坦开伯尔-普赫图赫瓦省库拉姆地区四个家禽品种采集的70只波斯锐缘蜱中弓形虫的分子流行情况和系统发育分析。结果显示，70份波斯锐缘蜱样本中有26份（37%）的弓形虫ITS-1基因检测呈阳性。通过对扩增扩增子的DNA测序和BLAST分析证实了这些结果。系统发育分析表明，巴基斯坦分离株在基因上具有多样性，并与从巴基斯坦、突尼斯、马来西亚、巴西和伊拉克的鸟类和哺乳动物中报告的分离株聚类。风险因素分析表明，弓形虫的流行与任何特定的家禽品种、采样期或家禽宿主的体温无关。同样，未发现寄生虫流行与蜱的性别或发育阶段有关，但寄生虫感染率随蜱的进食状态而变化；在饱血的波斯锐缘蜱中观察到最高的弓形虫感染率。总之，这是巴基斯坦的第一份报告，突出了波斯锐缘蜱中弓形虫在感染家禽中的高流行率，表明通过食用受感染的家禽对人类存在潜在的人畜共患病风险。该数据证实，除了经口摄入卵囊外，弓形虫还可通过软蜱进行机械传播。
