title: Diversity of ankA and msp4 genes of Anaplasma phagocytophilum in Slovenia.
abstract: Granulocytic anaplasmosis is a tick transmitted emerging disease in Europe and worldwide. The agent, Anaplasma phagocytophilum is transmitted by ticks of the genus Ixodes and causes infections in humans and domestic animals. The analysis of different target genes showed that in nature several genetic variants of A. phagocytophilum were present. The purpose of our study was to genetically characterize A. phagocytophilum strains from eight humans, 16 dogs, 12 wild boars, one bear and 18 tick pools from Slovenia. Therefore, the ankA and msp4 genes of A. phagocytophilum were chosen. The same genetic ankA and msp4 variant of A. phagocytophilum was detected in humans, wild boar and a part of the pooled ticks indicating that it circulates in a zoonotic cycle between wild boar and ticks. In dogs, three ankA variants of A. phagocytophilum were detected. One of them was identical to the one that was found in humans. In contrast, all dogs harboured the same msp4 variant as humans and wild boar. In ticks, numerous ankA and msp4 variants were present.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Zaloška 4, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia. Electronic address: katja.strasek@mf.uni-lj.si.
authors.forename: Katja
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Strašek Smrdel
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, University of Mainz, Medical Centre, Obere Zahlbacherstrasse 67, D-55131 Mainz, Germany. Electronic address: friederike.loewenich@unimedizin-mainz.de.
authors.forename: Friederike D
authors.initials: FD
authors.lastname: von Loewenich
authors.affiliation: Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Zaloška 4, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia. Electronic address: mirc.petrovec@mf.uni-lj.si.
authors.forename: Miroslav
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Petrovec
authors.affiliation: Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Zaloška 4, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia. Electronic address: tatjana.avsic@mf.uni-lj.si.
authors.forename: Tatjana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Avšič Županc
mesh_terms: D041081:Anaplasma phagocytophilum / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000712:Anaplasmosis / Q000382:microbiology*; D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D001483:Base Sequence; D003670:Deer / Q000382:microbiology*; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D004285:Dogs; D006801:Humans; D018884:Ixodes / Q000382:microbiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA / Q000662:veterinary; D017524:Slovenia / Q000453:epidemiology; D034421:Sus scrofa / Q000382:microbiology*; D013552:Swine
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins
keywords: Anaplasma phagocytophilum; Dogs; Human patients; Ixodes ricinus; Slovenia; Wild boar