title: Tick-borne zoonotic pathogens in birds in Guangxi, Southwest China.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Wildlife is an important natural reservoir of many tick-borne pathogens. These agents have an impact on the health of humans and other animals throughout the world. This study was conducted to determine whether and what species of tick-borne agents had infected wild birds collected from Guangxi, in southwest China.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Liver samples obtained from wild birds were tested for the presence of tick-borne pathogens by PCR assays and sequencing of the flagellin and 16S rRNA genes. Borrelia garinii was detected in Eurasian collared doves (2/57, 3.5%) from among the 95 wild birds. Anaplasma phagocytophilum was detected in Eurasian collared doves (2/57, 3.5%) and Eurasian eagle owls (2/13, 15.4%). Ehrlichia chaffeensis and a potential novel Anaplasma sp. were identified in Common pheasant (1/12, 8.3%). These results suggest the involvement of birds in the cycle of tick-borne diseases. To our knowledge, this is the first study to document infection of birds with B. garinii, A. phagocytophilum, E. chaffeensis and the novel Anaplasma sp. in China.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Tick-borne zoonotic bacteria B. garinii, A. phagocytophilum and E. chaffeensis, and a potential novel Anaplasma sp., were identified in wild birds in southwest China. The presence of these agents in birds increases the potential spread over long distances and the risk of transmission of infection from birds to new hosts, including humans.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Xujiaping 1, Lanzhou, Gansu, 730046, P. R. China. yangjifei@caas.cn.
authors.forename: Jifei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Xujiaping 1, Lanzhou, Gansu, 730046, P. R. China. liuzhijie@caas.cn.
authors.forename: Zhijie
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Xujiaping 1, Lanzhou, Gansu, 730046, P. R. China. niuqingli@caas.cn.
authors.forename: Qingli
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Xujiaping 1, Lanzhou, Gansu, 730046, P. R. China. tianzhancheng@caas.cn.
authors.forename: Zhancheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Xujiaping 1, Lanzhou, Gansu, 730046, P. R. China. liujunlong@caas.cn.
authors.forename: Junlong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Xujiaping 1, Lanzhou, Gansu, 730046, P. R. China. guanguiquan@caas.cn.
authors.forename: Guiquan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Xujiaping 1, Lanzhou, Gansu, 730046, P. R. China. liuguangyuan@caas.cn.
authors.forename: Guangyuan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Xujiaping 1, Lanzhou, Gansu, 730046, P. R. China. luojianxun@caas.cn.
authors.forename: Jianxun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Xujiaping 1, Lanzhou, Gansu, 730046, P. R. China. yttuhh@yeah.net.|Center of Conservation Medicine & Ecological Safety, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, Heilongjiang, 150040, P. R. China. yttuhh@yeah.net.
authors.forename: Xiaolong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Xujiaping 1, Lanzhou, Gansu, 730046, P. R. China. yinhong@caas.cn.|Jiangsu Co-innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou, 225009, P. R. China. yinhong@caas.cn.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yin
mesh_terms: D041081:Anaplasma phagocytophilum / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000818:Animals; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D001717:Birds; D015748:Borrelia burgdorferi Group / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D018469:Ehrlichia chaffeensis / Q000302:isolation & purification; D008099:Liver / Q000382:microbiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017282:Tick-Borne Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D015047:Zoonoses / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S