Jamil Laila, Li Cheng, Wang Yifei, Jamil Jabran, Tian Wenya, Zhao Di, Shen Shijing, Sun Yi, Zhao Lin, Cao Wuchun
Institute of EcoHealth, School of Public Health, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China.
State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Beijing 100071, China.
Microorganisms. 2025 May 30;13(6):1276. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms13061276.
Emerging tick-borne infections pose growing public health threats, causing global disease burdens and economic losses. In this study, tick-borne pathogens were detected in ticks collected from ruminants in 19 sites of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan, between 2023 and 2024. A total of 989 ticks, belonging to five species, i.e., , , , , and , were tested by specific PCR followed by Sanger sequencing. In total, fourteen pathogens including two species, three species, three species, one species, and five species were identified, with an overall infection rate of 20.2% (95% CI: 17.7-22.7%). Phylogenetic analyses revealed two undefined species: Ehrlichia hyalommae was exclusively detected in . ticks, while Ehrlichia rhipicephalis was only found in . Additionally, an undefined , provisionally named Rickettsia pakistanensis, was identified, which is phylogenetically close to in North Asia and in Africa, suggesting its potential pathogenicity to humans. Although coinfections of two pathogens were observed, the coinfection rates were quite low. The findings revealed a significant diversity of tick-borne pathogens in Pakistani ticks, which may pose risks to livestock and humans.
新出现的蜱传感染对公共卫生构成了日益严重的威胁，造成了全球疾病负担和经济损失。在本研究中，于2023年至2024年期间，在巴基斯坦开伯尔-普赫图赫瓦省19个地点采集的反刍动物蜱中检测到蜱传病原体。通过特异性PCR随后进行桑格测序，对总共989只属于五个物种（即 、 、 、 和 ）的蜱进行了检测。总共鉴定出14种病原体，包括两种 物种、三种 物种、三种 物种、一种 物种和五种 物种，总体感染率为20.2%（95%置信区间：17.7 - 22.7%）。系统发育分析揭示了两种未定义的 物种：透明璃眼蜱埃立克体仅在 蜱中检测到，而头蜱埃立克体仅在 蜱中发现。此外，还鉴定出一种未定义的 ，暂命名为巴基斯坦立克次体，其在系统发育上与北亚的 和非洲的 相近，表明其对人类具有潜在致病性。尽管观察到两种病原体的共感染情况，但共感染率相当低。研究结果揭示了巴基斯坦蜱中蜱传病原体的显著多样性，这可能对家畜和人类构成风险。
