Genetic Diversity and Coexistence of Babesia in Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) from Northeastern China

• Published in: Vector borne and zoonotic diseases (Larchmont, N.Y.) Vol. 20; no. 11; p. 817
• Main Authors: Xia, Luo-Yuan, Jiang, Bao-Gui, Yuan, Ting-Ting, von Fricken, Michael, Jia, Na, Jiang, Rui-Ruo, Zhang, Yuan, Li, Xin-Lou, Sun, Yi, Ruan, Xiang-Dong, Cao, Wu-Chun, Jiang, Jia-Fu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.11.2020
• Subjects: Animals; Babesia - classification; Babesia - genetics; Babesia - physiology; China; Genetic Variation; Ixodidae - microbiology; Logistic Models; Phylogeny; Risk Factors; RNA, Protozoan - genetics; RNA, Ribosomal, 18S - genetics; China; diversity; coexistence; ticks; China; Babesia
• DOI: 10.1089/vbz.2020.2635

Human babesiosis is an emerging zoonotic disease transmitted by ticks in China. A few systematic reports on spp. was involved with ticks, especially in the human babesiosis endemic areas in Northeastern China. Ticks were collected from 30 individual waypoints along 2.0 km transects in two recreational forests. spp. infection in ticks was screened by amplifying the partial 18s rRNA gene with subsequent sequencing. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine the association between tick infection and related environmental risk factors. Cluster analyses were performed using SaTScan v6.0 software to identify any geographical cluster of infected ticks. A total of 2380 and 461 ticks were collected. Of the 0.97% of ticks that tested positive, five species were identified, including (  = 6) (  = 2) (  = 3), (  = 11), and one novel strain HLJ-8. Thirteen (2.92%) ticks tested positive for (  = 1), (  = 1), three genetic variants of represented by HLJ-874, which was closely related to sp.MA#361-1, and eight other variants represented by HLJ242, which were similar to . Each study site had 5-6 different spp. One waypoint was more likely to yield (relative risk = 15.36,  = 0.045) than all other waypoints. There exists a high genetic diversity of spp. across a relatively small sampled region. Further study is needed to understand the risks these variants pose to human health.