Natural Anaplasmataceae infection in Rhipicephalus bursa ticks collected from sheep in the French Basque Country.
Rhipicephalus bursa is one of 79 species of the genus Rhipicephalus in the family of Ixodidae. In this study, we investigated Anaplasmataceae bacteria associated with R. bursa collected after an epizootic outbreak of ovine anaplasmosis. 76 adult ticks, (60 male and 16 female ticks), were removed from sheep in two farms and all identified as R. bursa, all females were partially engorged. We found that 50% of the ticks were positive in the initial Anaplasmataceae qPCR screening. Bacterial species was identified by analyzing the sequences of amplicons of 23S rRNA, groEL and rpoB genes. 22.4% of ticks contained DNA of Anaplasma phagocytophilum and 7.9% the DNA of Anaplasma ovis. Based on 23S rRNA and groEL genes analysis, we found that 19.7% of ticks contained a potentially new species of Ehrlichia. We propose the status of Candidatus for this uncultured species and we provisionally name it Candidatus Ehrlichia urmitei. No Wolbachia were identified. These results show that R. bursa can be a carrier of Anaplasmataceae bacteria.
Research Unit of Emerging Infectious and Tropical Diseases (URMITE) UMR CNRS, 7278 IRD 198 Aix-Marseille-Université, Marseille, France.
Mustapha
M
Dahmani
Research Unit of Emerging Infectious and Tropical Diseases (URMITE) UMR CNRS, 7278 IRD 198 Aix-Marseille-Université, Marseille, France.
Bernard
B
Davoust
Clinique vétérinaire d'Amikuze, 64120 Béhasque, France.
Frédéric
F
Rousseau
Research Unit of Emerging Infectious and Tropical Diseases (URMITE) UMR CNRS, 7278 IRD 198 Aix-Marseille-Université, Marseille, France.
Didier
D
Raoult
Research Unit of Emerging Infectious and Tropical Diseases (URMITE) UMR CNRS, 7278 IRD 198 Aix-Marseille-Université, Marseille, France.
Florence
F
Fenollar
Research Unit of Emerging Infectious and Tropical Diseases (URMITE) UMR CNRS, 7278 IRD 198, Institute of Research for Development, Dakar, Senegal. Electronic address: olegusss1@gmail.com.
Oleg
O
Mediannikov
D000710:Anaplasmataceae / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D048494:Rhipicephalus / Q000382:microbiology*; D012756:Sheep; D012757:Sheep Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D013984:Tick Infestations / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*
Anaplasma ovis; Anaplasma phagocytophilum; Anaplasmataceae; Candidatus Ehrlichia urmitei; Rhipicephalus bursa; Sheep; Ticks