Rebollada-Merino Agustín, Martínez Irene, Duque Clara, García-Seco Teresa, Escacena Cristina, Domínguez Lucas, Rodríguez-Bertos Antonio, García Nerea
VISAVET Health Surveillance Centre, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid 28040, Spain.
Department of Internal Medicine and Animal Surgery, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid 28040, Spain.
Transbound Emerg Dis. 2024 Jan 16;2024:6618287. doi: 10.1155/2024/6618287. eCollection 2024.
Brucellosis is a sanitary and economically relevant disease affecting humans, livestock, and wildlife. Ticks have been suggested as vectors, long-term carriers, and amplifiers of . In this study, ticks from wildlife ungulate hosts living in hunting reserves of a central region of Spain were collected during a 6-year period, pooled, and screened for spp. by PCR. Aiming to correlate spp. DNA presence in ticks with spp. infections in wildlife ungulate hosts, liver samples from deceased wildlife ungulates coming from the hunting reserves showing a positive result for in ticks were tested using a commercial ELISA. In total, 229 tick pools from wild boar (, = 176; 76.8%, 95% CI 70.9%-81.8%), red deer (, = 40; 17.4%, 95% CI 13.1%-22.9%), mouflon (, = 7; 3.06%, 95% CI 1.49%-6.17%), and fallow deer (, = 6; 2.62%, 95% CI 1.21%-5.60%) were analyzed. PCR results showed that 3.93% (95% CI 2.08%-7.30%) tick pools (9/229) from 16.6% hunting reserves (7/41) screened yielded a positive PCR result for . All positive ticks were or ) collected from wild boar. Ticks collected from wild boars were positive to in a relative percentage of 5.10% (95% CI = 1.61-11.4) in 2018 and of 7.59% (95% CI = 2.79-15.6) in 2021 (6-year prevalence of 5.17%, 9/176). ELISA showed positive results in three wild boars coming from two out of seven hunting reserves (28.5%) with a positive PCR for in ticks. To conclude, spp. DNA can be detected in ticks parasitizing wild boars living in hunting reserves harboring spp.-seropositive wild boars. This study provides evidence that the contribution of arthropod vectors should be considered in the epidemiology of brucellosis in wildlife.
布鲁氏菌病是一种对人类、家畜和野生动物具有卫生和经济影响的疾病。蜱虫被认为是布鲁氏菌的传播媒介、长期携带者和扩增宿主。在本研究中，在6年时间里收集了生活在西班牙中部地区狩猎保护区的野生有蹄类动物宿主身上的蜱虫，将其合并，并通过PCR检测布鲁氏菌属。旨在将蜱虫中布鲁氏菌属DNA的存在与野生有蹄类动物宿主中的布鲁氏菌属感染相关联，对来自狩猎保护区的死亡野生有蹄类动物的肝脏样本进行检测，这些样本在蜱虫检测中布鲁氏菌属呈阳性，采用商业ELISA法进行检测。总共分析了来自野猪（n = 176；76.8%，95% CI 70.9%-81.8%））、马鹿（n = 40；17.4%，95% CI 13.1%-22.9%）、摩弗伦羊（n = 7；3.06%，95% CI 1.49%-6.17%）和黇鹿（n = 6；2.62%，95% CI 1.21%-5.60%）的229个蜱虫样本池。PCR结果显示，在筛选的41个狩猎保护区中的16.6%（7/41）中，3.93%（95% CI 2.08%-7.30%）的蜱虫样本池（9/229）布鲁氏菌属PCR检测呈阳性。所有阳性蜱虫均为采自野猪的肩突硬蜱或蓖子硬蜱。2018年采自野猪的蜱虫布鲁氏菌属阳性率为5.10%（95% CI = 1.61-11.4），2021年为7.59%（95% CI = 2.79-15.6）（6年患病率为5.17%，9/176）。ELISA检测显示，在来自7个狩猎保护区中的2个（28.5%）且蜱虫布鲁氏菌属PCR检测呈阳性的3头野猪中结果呈阳性。总之，在寄生于生活在布鲁氏菌属血清学阳性野猪的狩猎保护区的野猪身上的蜱虫中可检测到布鲁氏菌属DNA。本研究提供了证据，表明在野生动物布鲁氏菌病的流行病学中应考虑节肢动物媒介的作用。
