Abstract
More than 70 tick species are found in Brazil, distributed over five genera and including main vectors of infectious disease agents affecting both animals and humans. The genus Amblyomma is the most relevant for public health in Brazil, wherein Amblyomma aureolatum, Amblyomma ovale and Amblyomma sculptum have been incriminated as vectors of Rickettsia and Borrelia pathogens. The objective of this study was to investigate the presence of Rickettsia spp. and Borrelia spp. in ticks in the Brazilian mid-western savannah. DNA extraction, PCR for Borrelia spp. (flgE gene) and Rickettsia spp. (ompA and gltA genes) and subsequent sequencing were performed. A total of 1875 ticks were collected and identified as A. sculptum except for two Amblyomma coelebs ticks. Molecular evidence for Borrelia spp. and Rickettsia parkeri was found in A. sculptum. This is the first molecular evidence for R. parkeri in A. sculptum ticks in the Midwest region and Borrelia spp. circulating in a tick of the Amblyomma genus in Brazil.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank the Program for Technological Development in Tools for Health-PDTISFIOCRUZ for the use of its facilities. This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil (CAPES) Finance Code 001, Fundação de Apoio à Pesquisa Agropecuária e Ambiental (FUNDAPAM/MS), Fundação de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento do Ensino, Ciência e Tecnologia do Estado de Mato Grosso do Sul (FUNDECT/MS) and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq). The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
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Higa, L.O.S., Csordas, B.G., Garcia, M.V. et al. Spotted fever group Rickettsia and Borrelia sp. cooccurrence in Amblyomma sculptum in the Midwest region of Brazil. Exp Appl Acarol 81, 441–455 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-020-00513-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-020-00513-2