Özdemir İlker Yasin, Arslanhan Batuhan Aşkım, Önder Zuhal
Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Erciyes University, Kayseri 38280, Türkiye.
Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Erciyes University, Kayseri 38280, Türkiye.
Acta Trop. 2025 Aug;268:107729. doi: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2025.107729. Epub 2025 Jul 2.
Fleas are vectors of various pathogens affecting humans and animals. This study aimed to determine the presence and genetic diversity of Bartonella spp., Rickettsia spp., Coxiella burnetii, and Dipylidium caninum in fleas. Fleas were collected from domestic animals (sheep, goat, dog, and cat) in four districts (Artova, Sulusaray, Yesilyurt, and Central) of Tokat province. The flea species were identified morphologically and then separated according to their species; pools of one to five specimens were prepared for each species. Genomic DNA from the pooled samples was extracted and screened by PCRs for bacterial species, including C. burnetii, Bartonella spp., Rickettsia spp., and also helminths such as D. caninum. Positive samples were sequenced for pathogen characterization, and bioinformatics analysis was performed. Of the 345 fleas identified, 99 were Pulex irritans, 48 were Ctenocephalides canis, and 198 were Ctenocephalides felis. PCR results revealed that C. burneti in 12 pools (11 pools from P. irritans and one pool from C. felis) and D. caninum in three pools (one pool from C. felis, C. canis, and P. irritans) from 70 flea pools were detected. Additionally, none of the flea pools were positive for Rickettsia spp. and Bartonella spp. The sequencing results confirmed the presence of C. burnetii and D. caninum. The phylogenetic analyses revealed that our D. caninum isolates belonged to the "D. caninum canine genotype" group. Our C. burnetii isolates obtained from P. irritans and C. felis pools showed the highest identity (99.63 % and 99.81 %, respectively) with the isolate detected in a human blood sample from Brazil (JF970260). Medically and veterinary important fleas can carry multiple pathogens, and future research on flea-borne pathogens is vital for public health in the "One Health" concept.
跳蚤是影响人类和动物的多种病原体的传播媒介。本研究旨在确定跳蚤中巴通体属、立克次体属、伯纳特柯克斯体和犬复孔绦虫的存在情况及遗传多样性。跳蚤采自托卡特省四个区（阿尔托瓦、苏卢萨赖、耶西里尤尔特和中心区）的家畜（绵羊、山羊、狗和猫）。通过形态学鉴定跳蚤种类，然后根据种类进行分类；每个种类制备1至5个样本的混合样本。从混合样本中提取基因组DNA，通过聚合酶链反应（PCR）筛选包括伯纳特柯克斯体、巴通体属、立克次体属在内的细菌种类，以及犬复孔绦虫等寄生虫。对阳性样本进行测序以鉴定病原体特征，并进行生物信息学分析。在鉴定出的345只跳蚤中，99只为致痒蚤，48只为犬栉首蚤，198只为猫栉首蚤。PCR结果显示，在70个跳蚤混合样本中，12个样本（11个来自致痒蚤样本，1个来自猫栉首蚤样本）检测到伯纳特柯克斯体，3个样本（分别来自猫栉首蚤、犬栉首蚤和致痒蚤各1个样本）检测到犬复孔绦虫。此外，没有一个跳蚤混合样本检测到立克次体属和巴通体属呈阳性。测序结果证实了伯纳特柯克斯体和犬复孔绦虫的存在。系统发育分析表明，我们分离出的犬复孔绦虫属于“犬复孔绦虫犬基因型”组。我们从致痒蚤和猫栉首蚤混合样本中分离出的伯纳特柯克斯体菌株与在巴西一份人类血液样本中检测到的菌株（JF970260）具有最高的同一性（分别为99.63%和99.81%）。具有医学和兽医重要性的跳蚤可携带多种病原体，未来关于跳蚤传播病原体的研究对于“同一健康”概念下的公共卫生至关重要。
