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Introduction: Ixodes ricinus, the castor bean tick, is the most prevalent tick species in Europe. It favours habitats such as shrubs, deciduous and mixed forests, but can also be found in urban environments. Due to its high vector competence, it is of enormous veterinary as well as medical importance, transmitting tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) virus, Borrelia burgdorferi s. l., the causative agent of lyme borreliosis, Rickettsia spp. and Anaplasma phagocytophilum amongst many other pathogens. In Kosovo, I. ricinus is the predominant species and a few studies, mostly based on human and animal seroprevalences, indicate the circulation of tick-borne pathogens. However, data on pathogens in I. ricinus are scarce in Kosovo, particularly in urban settings. This study aimed to provide first insights into the circulation of tic-kborne pathogens in I. ricinus from urban and peri-urban areas in Kosovo., Methods: Urban and peri-urban areas were sampled by flagging 150 m transects. In total, 197 ticks were morphologicaly identified as I. ricinus, and consequently DNA and RNA were isolated. All individuals were screened for the presence of tick-borne pathogens by using reverse line blotting (RLB) hybridisation., Results: DNA of nine different pathogens from four genera including Borrelia spp., Rickettsia spp., Anaplasma spp. and Babesia spp. was detected in 60 (33.5%) specimens. The most frequently detected pathogens were Rickettsia spp. (16.2%), followed by Borrelia spp. (11.7%). Altogether, 54 single infections, 11 double infections and 1 triple infection were observed., Conclusions: We provide first data on genotyping of B. burgdorferi sensu lato as well as the detection of Anaplasma, Babesia and Rickettsia from I. ricinus in this country. The data underline that particularly recreational (peri-)urban areas could facilitate the spillover of zoonotic tick-borne pathogens to humans in Kosovo and provide baseline data for future surveys., (© 2024 The Author(s). Zoonoses and Public Health published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Ixodes ricinus is the most relevant vector for tick-borne diseases in Austria and responsible for the transmission of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s. l.), which causes Lyme borreliosis in humans; however, also other bacteria and protozoa can be found in ticks and have the potential of infecting people and animals. In this study we collected ticks in popular recreational areas in the city of Vienna in the years 2019 and 2020 and analyzed them for the presence of such putative pathogenic microorganisms. By using reverse line blot (RLB) hybridization we detected DNA of B. burgdorferi s. l., Rickettsia spp., Babesia spp., Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis (CNM) and Anaplasma phagocytophilum. Moreover, we also screened them for the relapsing fever spirochete Borrelia miyamotoi employing real-time PCR. The most frequently detected pathogens were B. burgdorferi s. l. in 28.6% of the ticks in 2019 and 21.3% of the ticks in 2020. The genus Rickettsia was detected in 13.8% of the ticks from 2019 and only in 4.6% from 2020. Babesia spp. were detected in 5.7% in 2019 and 4.2% in 2020. Furthermore, we detected CNM in 4.0% (2019) and 5.6% (2020), A. phagocytophilum in 0.5% (2019) and 1.3% (2020) and finally B. miyamotoi in 3.3% (2019) and 1.7% (2020). Collectively, we show that various microorganisms are prevalent in ticks collected in Vienna and identify hotspots for B. miyamotoi, which we have detected for the first time in the city., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Recently, the occurrence of Ixodes (Pholeoixodes) kaiseri has been reported for the first time in several European countries, but data on the molecular analysis of this hard tick species are still lacking. Therefore, in this study DNA extracts of 28 I. kaiseri (collected from dogs and red foxes in Germany, Hungary and Romania) were screened with reverse line blot hybridisation (RLB), PCR and sequencing for the presence of 43 tick-borne pathogens or other members of their families from the categories of Anaplasmataceae, piroplasms, rickettsiae and borreliae. Rickettsia helvetica DNA was detected in one I. kaiseri female (from a red fox, Romania), for the first time in this tick species. Six ticks (from red foxes, Romania) contained the DNA of Babesia vulpes, also for the first time in the case of I. kaiseri. Molecular evidence of R. helvetica and B. vulpes in engorged I. kaiseri does not prove that this tick species is a vector of the above two pathogens, because they might have been taken up by the ticks from the blood of foxes. In addition, one I. kaiseri female (from a dog, Hungary) harboured Babesia sp. badger type-B, identified for the first time in Hungary and Central Europe (i.e. it has been reported previously from Western Europe and China). The latter finding can be explained by either the susceptibility of dogs to Babesia sp. badger type-B, or by transstadial survival of this piroplasm in I. kaiseri.

Ticks transmit a large number of pathogens capable of causing human disease. In this study, the PCR-reverse line blot (RLB) method was used to screen for pathogens in a total of 554 Ixodes ricinus ticks collected from all provinces of Austria. These pathogens belong to the genera Borrelia , Rickettsiae , Anaplasma / Ehrlichia (including " Candidatus Neoehrlichia"), Babesia , and Coxiella The pathogens with the highest detected prevalence were spirochetes of the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex, in 142 ticks (25.6%). Borrelia afzelii (80/142) was the most frequently detected species, followed by Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto (38/142) and Borrelia valaisiana (36/142). Borrelia garinii/Borrelia bavariensis , Borrelia lusitaniae , and Borrelia spielmanii were found in 28 ticks, 5 ticks, and 1 tick, respectively. Rickettsia spp. were detected in 93 ticks (16.8%): R. helvetica (39/93), R. raoultii (38/93), R. monacensis (2/93), and R. slovaca (1/93). Thirteen Rickettsia samples remain uncharacterized. " Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis," Babesia spp. ( B. venatorum , B. divergens , B. microti ), and Anaplasma phagocytophilum were found in 4.5%, 2.7%, and 0.7%, respectively. Coxiella burnetii was not detected. Multiple microorganisms were detected in 40 ticks (7.2%), and the cooccurrence of Babesia spp. and " Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis" showed a significant positive correlation. We also compared different PCR-RLBs for detection of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato and Rickettsia spp. and showed that different detection approaches provide highly diverse results, indicating that analysis of environmental samples remains challenging. IMPORTANCE This study determined the wide spectrum of tick-borne bacterial and protozoal pathogens that can be encountered in Austria. Surveillance of (putative) pathogenic microorganisms occurring in the environment is of medical importance, especially when those agents can be transmitted by ticks and cause disease. The observation of significant coinfections of certain microorganisms in field-collected ticks is an initial step to an improved understanding of microbial interactions in ticks. In addition, we show that variations in molecular detection methods, such as in primer pairs and target genes, can considerably influence the final results. For instance, detection of certain genospecies of borreliae may be better or worse by one method or the other, a fact of great importance for future screening studies., (Copyright © 2017 American Society for Microbiology.)

African swine fever (ASF) is caused by African swine fever virus (ASFV), a tick-borne DNA virus. Soft ticks of the genus Ornithodoros are the only biological vectors of ASFV recognized so far. Although other hard ticks have been tested for vector competence, two commonly found tick species in Europe, Ixodes ricinus and Dermacentor reticulatus, have not been assessed for their vector competence for ASFV. In this study, we aimed to determine whether virus replication can occur in any of these two hard tick species (I. ricinus and/or D. reticulatus), in comparison with O. moubata (the confirmed vector), after feeding them blood containing different ASFV isolates using an improved in vitro system. DNA quantities of ASFV in these infected hard ticks were measured systematically, for 6 weeks in I. ricinus, and up to 8 weeks in D. reticulatus, and the results were compared to those obtained from O. moubata. There was evidence of virus replication in the O. moubata ticks. However, there was no evidence of virus replication in I. ricinus or D. reticulatus, even though viral DNA could be detected for up to 8 weeks after feeding in some cases. This study presents the first results on the possible vector competence of European hard (ixodid) ticks for ASFV, in a validated in vitro feeding setup. In conclusion, given the lack of evidence for virus replication under in vitro conditions, D. reticulatus and I. ricinus are unlikely to be relevant biological vectors of ASFV., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.)