title: Anaplasma phagocytophilum in questing Ixodes ricinus ticks from Romania.
abstract: Granulocytic anaplasmosis is a common vector-borne disease of humans and animals with natural transmission cycle that involves tick vectors, among which Ixodes ricinus is the most important. The present paper reports the prevalence and geographical distribution of A. phagocytophilum in 10,438 questing Ixodes ricinus ticks collected at 113 locations from 40 counties of Romania. The unfed ticks were examined for the presence of A. phagocytophilum by PCR targeting a portion of ankA gene. The overall prevalence of infection was 3.42%, with local prevalences ranging between 0.29% and 22.45%, with an average prevalence of 5.39% in the infected localities. The infection with A. phagocytophilum was detected in 72 out of 113 localities and in 34 out of 40 counties. The highest prevalence was recorded in females followed by males and nymphs. The results and the distribution model have shown a large distribution of A. phagocytophilum, covering Romania's entire territory. This study is the first large scale survey of the presence of A. phagocytophilum in questing I. ricinus ticks from Romania.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, Cluj Napoca, Cluj, Romania. Electronic address: matei.ioana@usamvcluj.ro.
authors.forename: Ioana Adriana
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Matei
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, Cluj Napoca, Cluj, Romania.
authors.forename: Zsuzsa
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Kalmár
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, Cluj Napoca, Cluj, Romania.
authors.forename: Cristian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Magdaş
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, Cluj Napoca, Cluj, Romania.
authors.forename: Virginia
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Magdaş
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, Cluj Napoca, Cluj, Romania.
authors.forename: Hortenzia
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Toriay
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, Cluj Napoca, Cluj, Romania.
authors.forename: Mirabela Oana
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Dumitrache
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, Cluj Napoca, Cluj, Romania.
authors.forename: Angela Monica
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Ionică
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, Cluj Napoca, Cluj, Romania.
authors.forename: Gianluca
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: D'Amico
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, Cluj Napoca, Cluj, Romania.
authors.forename: Attila D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Sándor
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, Cluj Napoca, Cluj, Romania.
authors.forename: Daniel Ioan
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Mărcuţan
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, Cluj Napoca, Cluj, Romania.
authors.forename: Cristian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Domşa
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, Cluj Napoca, Cluj, Romania.
authors.forename: Călin Mircea
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Gherman
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, Cluj Napoca, Cluj, Romania.
authors.forename: Andrei Daniel
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Mihalca
mesh_terms: D041081:Anaplasma phagocytophilum / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D000712:Anaplasmosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D000818:Animals; D016873:Ehrlichiosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018884:Ixodes / Q000382:microbiology*; D008297:Male; D009758:Nymph; D012383:Romania / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Anaplasma phagocytophilum; Ixodes ricinus; Romania