title: Guidelines for the Direct Detection of Anaplasma spp. in Diagnosis and Epidemiological Studies.
abstract: The genus Anaplasma (Rickettsiales: Anaplasmataceae) comprises obligate intracellular Gram-negative bacteria that are mainly transmitted by ticks, and currently includes six species: Anaplasma bovis, Anaplasma centrale, Anaplasma marginale, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Anaplasma platys, and Anaplasma ovis. These have long been known as etiological agents of veterinary diseases that affect domestic and wild animals worldwide. A zoonotic role has been recognized for A. phagocytophilum, but other species can also be pathogenic for humans. Anaplasma infections are usually challenging to diagnose, clinically presenting with nonspecific symptoms that vary greatly depending on the agent involved, the affected host, and other factors such as immune status and coinfections. The substantial economic impact associated with livestock infection and the growing number of human cases along with the risk of transfusion-transmitted infections, determines the need for accurate laboratory tests. Because hosts are usually seronegative in the initial phase of infection and serological cross-reactions with several Anaplasma species are observed after seroconversion, direct tests are the best approach for both case definition and epidemiological studies. Blood samples are routinely used for Anaplasma spp. screening, but in persistently infected animals with intermittent or low-level bacteremia, other tissues might be useful. These guidelines have been developed as a direct outcome of the COST action TD1303 EURNEGVEC ("European Network of Neglected Vectors and Vector-Borne Diseases"). They review the direct laboratory tests (microscopy, nucleic acid-based detection and in vitro isolation) currently used for Anaplasma detection in ticks and vertebrates and their application.
authors.affiliation: 1 National Center for Vector Entomology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich , Zurich, Switzerland .
authors.forename: Cornelia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Silaghi
authors.affiliation: 2 Center for Vector and Infectious Diseases Research, National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge , Águas de Moura, Portugal .
authors.forename: Ana Sofia
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.affiliation: 3 Animal Health and Production Unit, National Institute for Agrarian and Veterinary Research , Oeiras, Portugal .
authors.forename: Jacinto
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gomes
authors.affiliation: 4 Department of Microbiology, National Center of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases , Sofia, Bulgaria .
authors.forename: Iva
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Christova
authors.affiliation: 5 Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca , Cluj-Napoca, Romania .
authors.forename: Ioana Adriana
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Matei
authors.affiliation: 6 Department of Hygiene, Medical Microbiology and Social Medicine, Innsbruck Medical University , Innsbruck, Austria .
authors.forename: Gernot
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Walder
authors.affiliation: 7 Global Health and Tropical Medicine, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, Universidade Nova de Lisboa , Lisboa, Portugal .
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Domingos
authors.affiliation: 8 The Pirbright Institute , Ash Road, Pirbright, Woking, Surrey, United Kingdom .
authors.forename: Lesley
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bell-Sakyi
authors.affiliation: 9 Center for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) , Bilthoven, the Netherlands .
authors.forename: Hein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sprong
authors.affiliation: 10 Department of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, University of Mainz , Medical Center, Mainz, Germany .
authors.forename: Friederike D
authors.initials: FD
authors.lastname: von Loewenich
authors.affiliation: 11 Infectious Diseases Department, Center of Rickettsioses and Arthropod-Borne Diseases , Hospital San Pedro- CIBIR, Logroño, Spain .
authors.forename: José A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Oteo
authors.affiliation: 12 SaBio. Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Cinegéticos, IREC-CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ciudad Real, Spain .|13 Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Center for Veterinary Health Sciences, Oklahoma State University , Stillwater, Oklahoma.
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: de la Fuente
authors.affiliation: 14 Departments of Pathology and Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland , School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.|15 Department of Pathology, Uniformed Services University for the Health Sciences "America's Medical School," Bethesda, Maryland.
authors.forename: J Stephen
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Dumler
mesh_terms: D000709:Anaplasma / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D000712:Anaplasmosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D015047:Zoonoses
keywords: Anaplasma spp.; PCR; direct diagnosis; in vitro isolation; microscopy; ticks; vertebrate hosts