Tick‐borne pathogens in ticks from urban and suburban areas of north‐western Spain: Importance of Ixodes frontalis harbouring zoonotic pathogens

• Published in: Medical and veterinary entomology Vol. 37; no. 3; pp. 499 - 510
• Main Authors: Remesar, S., Matute, R., Díaz, P., Martínez‐Calabuig, N., Prieto, A., Díaz‐Cao, J. M., López‐Lorenzo, G., Fernández, G., López, C., Panadero, R., Díez‐Baños, P., Morrondo, P., García‐Dios, D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.09.2023; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Anaplasma phagocytophilum; Animals; Borrelia; Cities; Dermacentor; Developmental stages; Ixodes; Ixodes frontalis; Pathogens; Polymerase chain reaction; Public health; Rhipicephalus; Rickettsia; Sequence analysis; Spain; Suburban areas; urban areas; Urban populations; Zoonoses; Spain; Anaplasma phagocytophilum; Dermacentor; Ixodes; Borrelia; urban areas; Rhipicephalus; Rickettsia
• ISSN: 0269-283X; 1365-2915
• DOI: 10.1111/mve.12648

To identify the questing tick populations in urban and suburban areas from the city of Lugo (NW Spain), ticks were collected monthly by flagging. The presence of Borrelia spp., Rickettsia spp. and Anaplasma phagocytophilum also was determined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequence analysis. Overall, 342 questing ticks were collected; the tick abundance was higher in suburban (95.9%) than in urban areas (4.1%). Ixodes frontalis was the most abundant (86.5%); 88.5% were larvae, 11.1% nymphs and 0.3% adults. All development stages of I. ricinus (7.3%) and adults of Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato (5.8%) and Dermacentor reticulatus (0.3%) were found. Rickettsia spp. (31.9%) was more prevalent than Borrelia spp. (2.7%); no ticks were positive to A. phagocytophilum. Six Rickettsia species were identified (R. slovaca, R. monacensis, R. massiliae, R. raoultii, R. sibirica subsp. mongolitimonae and R. aeschielmanii); Candidatus Rickettsia rioja and two novel Rickettsia species also were detected. In addition, Borrelia turdi (1.8%) and B. valaisiana (0.9%) were identified in Ixodes ticks. This is the first report of R. slovaca in R. sanguineus s.l. and of R. monacensis, R. raoultii, R. slovaca, R. sibirica subsp. mongolitimonae and Ca. R. rioja in I. frontalis. Since most of the pathogens detected are zoonotic, their presence in these areas may have implications for public health. A higher number of ticks was collected in suburban than in urban areas, being Ixodes frontalis the most commonly detected species. The results have significant implications for public health since most Rickettsia spp. detected are zoonotic. This is the first report of the detection of Borrelia spp. and Rickettsia spp. DNA some species in questing I. frontalis.