Zoonotic tick-borne pathogens in ticks from vegetation and alpine ibex (Capra ibex) in the maritime alps, Italy
In the Maritime Alps (northwestern Italy), we collected ticks from vegetation and Alpine ibex (Capra ibex). Ixodes ricinus was the most abundant species in the study area, questing up to 1824 m a.s.l. and infesting 28 out of 72 ibexes. Haemaphysalis punctata, H. sulcata and Dermacentor marginatus we...
| Autores principales: | , , , , , , |
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| Formato: | info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
MDPI
2024
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/19061 https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/14/15/2251 https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14152251 |
| _version_ | 1855037965469745152 |
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| author | Menzano, Arianna Tizzani, Paolo Farber, Marisa Diana Garcia-Vozmediano, Aitor Martinelli, Laura Rossi, Luca Tomassone, Laura |
| author_browse | Farber, Marisa Diana Garcia-Vozmediano, Aitor Martinelli, Laura Menzano, Arianna Rossi, Luca Tizzani, Paolo Tomassone, Laura |
| author_facet | Menzano, Arianna Tizzani, Paolo Farber, Marisa Diana Garcia-Vozmediano, Aitor Martinelli, Laura Rossi, Luca Tomassone, Laura |
| author_sort | Menzano, Arianna |
| collection | INTA Digital |
| description | In the Maritime Alps (northwestern Italy), we collected ticks from vegetation and Alpine ibex (Capra ibex). Ixodes ricinus was the most abundant species in the study area, questing up to 1824 m a.s.l. and infesting 28 out of 72 ibexes. Haemaphysalis punctata, H. sulcata and Dermacentor marginatus were also collected. The abundance of questing ticks significantly decreased with altitude, with beechwoods being the preferred habitat. By PCR, we identified Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. in questing I. ricinus (28.3%; 95%CI: 19.4–38.6) but not in specimens collected from animals. Rickettsia spp. infected both questing (20.6%; 95%CI: 12.9–30.3) and on-host (30.2%; 95%CI: 21.2–40.4) I. ricinus. Anaplasma phagocytophilum was detected in 4.3% (95%CI: 1.2–10.8) of questing I. ricinus and in 45.3% (95%CI: 34.6–56.4) of I. ricinus collected from ibex. Female I. ricinus collected on animals were significantly more infected with A. phagocytophilum than females collected from vegetation (OR = 11.7; 95%CI: 3.8–48.1). By amplifying and sequencing a fragment of the groEL gene, we identified 13 groEL haplotypes, clustering with ecotypes I and II; ecotype I, prevalent in our sample, is considered zoonotic. Our study demonstrates the presence of different tick-borne zoonotic agents in the study area, encompassing a wide altitudinal range, as confirmed by the ticks found on ibex, a typical mountain-dwelling mammal. The results also confirm the altitudinal range expansion of ticks and associated pathogens in the Alps and suggest that Alpine ibex may act as a reservoir for A. phagocytophilum, as do other wild ungulate species. |
| format | info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo |
| id | INTA19061 |
| institution | Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA -Argentina) |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publishDateRange | 2024 |
| publishDateSort | 2024 |
| publisher | MDPI |
| publisherStr | MDPI |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | INTA190612024-08-22T10:35:43Z Zoonotic tick-borne pathogens in ticks from vegetation and alpine ibex (Capra ibex) in the maritime alps, Italy Menzano, Arianna Tizzani, Paolo Farber, Marisa Diana Garcia-Vozmediano, Aitor Martinelli, Laura Rossi, Luca Tomassone, Laura Metastigmata Anaplasma phagocytophilum Borrelia burgdorferi Zoonoses Tick-borne Diseases Pathogens Alps Italy Zoonosis Enfermedad transmitida por Garrapatas Organismos Patógenos Capra ibex Alpes Italia In the Maritime Alps (northwestern Italy), we collected ticks from vegetation and Alpine ibex (Capra ibex). Ixodes ricinus was the most abundant species in the study area, questing up to 1824 m a.s.l. and infesting 28 out of 72 ibexes. Haemaphysalis punctata, H. sulcata and Dermacentor marginatus were also collected. The abundance of questing ticks significantly decreased with altitude, with beechwoods being the preferred habitat. By PCR, we identified Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. in questing I. ricinus (28.3%; 95%CI: 19.4–38.6) but not in specimens collected from animals. Rickettsia spp. infected both questing (20.6%; 95%CI: 12.9–30.3) and on-host (30.2%; 95%CI: 21.2–40.4) I. ricinus. Anaplasma phagocytophilum was detected in 4.3% (95%CI: 1.2–10.8) of questing I. ricinus and in 45.3% (95%CI: 34.6–56.4) of I. ricinus collected from ibex. Female I. ricinus collected on animals were significantly more infected with A. phagocytophilum than females collected from vegetation (OR = 11.7; 95%CI: 3.8–48.1). By amplifying and sequencing a fragment of the groEL gene, we identified 13 groEL haplotypes, clustering with ecotypes I and II; ecotype I, prevalent in our sample, is considered zoonotic. Our study demonstrates the presence of different tick-borne zoonotic agents in the study area, encompassing a wide altitudinal range, as confirmed by the ticks found on ibex, a typical mountain-dwelling mammal. The results also confirm the altitudinal range expansion of ticks and associated pathogens in the Alps and suggest that Alpine ibex may act as a reservoir for A. phagocytophilum, as do other wild ungulate species. Instituto de Biotecnología Fil: Menzano, Arianna. Ente di Gestione delle Aree Protette delle Alpi Marittime; Italia Fil: Tizzani, Paolo. University of Turin. Department of Veterinary Sciences; Italia Fil: Farber, Marisa Diana. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Agrobiotecnología y Biología Molecular (IABIMO); Argentina Fil: Farber, Marisa Diana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Garcia-Vozmediano, Aitor. University of Turin. Department of Veterinary Sciences; Italia Fil: Martinelli, Laura. Ente di Gestione delle Aree Protette delle Alpi Marittime; Italia Fil: Rossi, Luca. University of Turin. Department of Veterinary Sciences; Italia Fil: Tomassone, Laura. University of Turin. Department of Veterinary Sciences; Italia 2024-08-22T10:31:18Z 2024-08-22T10:31:18Z 2024-08 info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/19061 https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/14/15/2251 2076-2615 https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14152251 eng info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) application/pdf MDPI Animals 14 (15) : 2251 (Agosto 2024) |
| spellingShingle | Metastigmata Anaplasma phagocytophilum Borrelia burgdorferi Zoonoses Tick-borne Diseases Pathogens Alps Italy Zoonosis Enfermedad transmitida por Garrapatas Organismos Patógenos Capra ibex Alpes Italia Menzano, Arianna Tizzani, Paolo Farber, Marisa Diana Garcia-Vozmediano, Aitor Martinelli, Laura Rossi, Luca Tomassone, Laura Zoonotic tick-borne pathogens in ticks from vegetation and alpine ibex (Capra ibex) in the maritime alps, Italy |
| title | Zoonotic tick-borne pathogens in ticks from vegetation and alpine ibex (Capra ibex) in the maritime alps, Italy |
| title_full | Zoonotic tick-borne pathogens in ticks from vegetation and alpine ibex (Capra ibex) in the maritime alps, Italy |
| title_fullStr | Zoonotic tick-borne pathogens in ticks from vegetation and alpine ibex (Capra ibex) in the maritime alps, Italy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Zoonotic tick-borne pathogens in ticks from vegetation and alpine ibex (Capra ibex) in the maritime alps, Italy |
| title_short | Zoonotic tick-borne pathogens in ticks from vegetation and alpine ibex (Capra ibex) in the maritime alps, Italy |
| title_sort | zoonotic tick borne pathogens in ticks from vegetation and alpine ibex capra ibex in the maritime alps italy |
| topic | Metastigmata Anaplasma phagocytophilum Borrelia burgdorferi Zoonoses Tick-borne Diseases Pathogens Alps Italy Zoonosis Enfermedad transmitida por Garrapatas Organismos Patógenos Capra ibex Alpes Italia |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/19061 https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/14/15/2251 https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14152251 |
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