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Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) infesting cattle in coastal Kenya harbor a diverse array of tick-borne pathogens.
- Source :
-
Ticks and tick-borne diseases [Ticks Tick Borne Dis] 2024 Jan; Vol. 15 (1), pp. 102266. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Oct 09. - Publication Year :
- 2024
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Abstract
- Ticks and the microbes they transmit have emerged in sub-Saharan Africa as a major threat to veterinary and public health. Although progress has been made in detecting and identifying tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) across vast agroecologies of Kenya, comprehensive information on tick species infesting cattle and their associated pathogens in coastal Kenya needs to be updated and expanded. Ticks infesting extensively grazed zebu cattle in 14 villages were sampled and identified based on morphology and molecular methods and tested for the presence of bacterial and protozoan TBPs using PCR with high-resolution melting analysis and gene sequencing. In total, 3,213 adult ticks were collected and identified as Rhipicephalus appendiculatus (15.8%), R. evertsi (12.8%), R. microplus (11.3%), R. pulchellus (0.1%), Amblyomma gemma (24.1%), A. variegatum (35.1%), Hyalomma rufipes (0.6%), and H. albiparmatum (0.2%). Ticks were infected with Rickettsia africae, Ehrlichia ruminantium, E. minasensis, Theileria velifera and T. parva. Coxiella sp. endosymbionts were detected in the Rhipicephalus and Amblyomma ticks. Co-infections with two and three different pathogens were identified in 6.9% (n = 95/1382) and 0.1% (n = 2/1382) of single tick samples, respectively, with the most common co-infection being R. africae and E. ruminantium (7.2%, CI: 4.6 - 10.6). All samples were negative for Coxiella burnetii, Anaplasma spp. and Babesia spp. Our study provides an overview of tick and tick-borne microbial diversities in coastal Kenya.<br />Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare they have no competing interests.<br /> (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier GmbH.. All rights reserved.)
- Subjects :
- Animals
Cattle
Kenya epidemiology
Amblyomma
Ixodidae microbiology
Tick Infestations epidemiology
Tick Infestations veterinary
Cattle Diseases epidemiology
Cattle Diseases microbiology
Rickettsia
Rhipicephalus
Tick-Borne Diseases epidemiology
Tick-Borne Diseases veterinary
Tick-Borne Diseases microbiology
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1877-9603
- Volume :
- 15
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Ticks and tick-borne diseases
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 37813003
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ttbdis.2023.102266