Korean J Parasitol.  2016 Feb;54(1):87-91. 10.3347/kjp.2016.54.1.87.

Prevalence of Anaplasma and Bartonella spp. in Ticks Collected from Korean Water Deer (Hydropotes inermis argyropus)

Affiliations
  • 1Laboratory of Veterinary Internal Medicine, BK21 PLUS Program for Creative Veterinary Science Research, Research Institute for Veterinary Science and College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea. jschae@snu.ac.kr
  • 25th Medical Detachment, 168th Multifunctional Medical Battalion, 65th Medical Brigade, Unit 15247, APO AP96205-5247, USA.
  • 3Public Health Command District-Korea, 65th Medical Brigade, Unit 15281, APO AP 96205-5281, USA.
  • 4College of Ecology and Environmental Science, Kyungpook National University, Sangju 37224, Korea.
  • 5College of Veterinary Medicine, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 61186, Korea.
  • 6College of Veterinary Medicine, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Korea.
  • 7College of Veterinary Medicine, Chonbuk National University, Iksan 54596, Korea.

Abstract

Deer serve as reservoirs of tick-borne pathogens that impact on medical and veterinary health worldwide. In the Republic of Korea, the population of Korean water deer (KWD, Hydropotes inermis argyropus) has greatly increased from 1982 to 2011, in part, as a result of reforestation programs established following the Korean War when much of the land was barren of trees. Eighty seven Haemaphysalis flava, 228 Haemaphysalis longicornis, 8 Ixodes nipponensis, and 40 Ixodes persulcatus (21 larvae, 114 nymphs, and 228 adults) were collected from 27 out of 70 KWD. A total of 89/363 ticks (266 pools, 24.5% minimum infection rate) and 5 (1.4%) fed ticks were positive for Anaplasma phagocytophilum using nested PCR targeting the 16S rRNA and groEL genes, respectively. The 16S rRNA gene fragment sequences of 88/89 (98.9%) of positive samples for A. phagocytophilum corresponded to previously described gene sequences from KWD spleen tissues. The 16S rRNA gene fragment sequences of 20/363 (5.5%) of the ticks were positive for A. bovis and were identical to previously reported sequences. Using the ITS specific nested PCR, 11/363 (3.0%) of the ticks were positive for Bartonella spp. This is the first report of Anaplasma and Bartonella spp. detected in ticks collected from KWD, suggesting that ticks are vectors of Anaplasma and Bartonella spp. between reservoir hosts in natural surroundings.

Keyword

Anaplasma spp.; Bartonella spp.; tick; Korean water deer

MeSH Terms

Anaplasma/genetics/*physiology
Animals
Arachnid Vectors/microbiology
Bartonella/genetics/*physiology
Chaperonin 60/genetics
Deer/parasitology
Disease Reservoirs/veterinary
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S/genetics
Republic of Korea/epidemiology
Ticks/*microbiology
Chaperonin 60
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
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