{"title":"Anaplasma phagocytophilum in urban and peri-urban passerine birds in Ile-de-France","authors":"Clotilde Rouxel , Adrien Etienne , Pascal Arné , Cécile Le Barzic , Guillaume Girault , Henri-Jean Boulouis , Nadia Haddad , Anne-Claire Lagrée , Pierre Lucien Deshuillers","doi":"10.1016/j.ttbdis.2024.102350","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Wild animals in general, birds in particular, play a key role in transporting ticks and propagating tick-borne pathogens. Several studies have confirmed the infection of birds with <em>Anaplasma phagocytophilum</em>, with overall prevalence varying widely from country to country and/or study to study. This zoonotic bacterium, transmitted mainly by ticks of the genus <em>Ixodes</em>, is responsible for granulocytic anaplasmosis in humans (HGA) and domestic animals (cats, dogs, horses). The disease is also called tick-borne fever (TBF) in ruminants. Extremely rare in the USA, TBF is very common in Europe, where it causes economic losses in livestock. Conversely, HGA is well established in the USA whereas only a few less severe cases have been observed in Europe. Current typing techniques support the existence of multiple variants with differences in virulence/pathogenicity and tropism for certain tick and host species. However, epidemiological cycles remain difficult to characterize in Europe. Several studies describe a cycle apparently involving only birds in Europe, but no such study has been conducted in mainland France. Our objectives were to search for <em>A. phagocytophilum</em> in passerine birds in the Ile-de-France region and to explore their diversity using <em>groEL</em> and <em>ankA</em> gene typing and multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Various tissues (spleen, liver, and skin) were collected from cadavers of 680 passerines between March and December 2021. The presence of <em>A. phagocytophilum</em> was detected by qPCR Taqman targeting the <em>msp2</em> gene. Three blackbirds (<em>Turdus merula</em>) were found positive, representing detection rates of 0.4 % in all birds tested and 3.3 % in blackbirds. The higher frequency of detection in blackbirds could be at least partially explained by their lifestyle, as they feed on the ground. Analysis of the results of <em>groEL</em> and <em>ankA</em> typing and MLST from positive blackbirds support the hypothesis that the avian <em>A. phagocytophilum</em> strains in Ile-de-France are distinct from those found in mammals, and that they form their own cluster in Europe.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49320,"journal":{"name":"Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases","volume":"15 4","pages":"Article 102350"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1000,"publicationDate":"2024-05-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877959X24000438/pdfft?md5=27248b994f1cc342e5f74b372b05b428&pid=1-s2.0-S1877959X24000438-main.pdf","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877959X24000438","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"INFECTIOUS DISEASES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Wild animals in general, birds in particular, play a key role in transporting ticks and propagating tick-borne pathogens. Several studies have confirmed the infection of birds with Anaplasma phagocytophilum, with overall prevalence varying widely from country to country and/or study to study. This zoonotic bacterium, transmitted mainly by ticks of the genus Ixodes, is responsible for granulocytic anaplasmosis in humans (HGA) and domestic animals (cats, dogs, horses). The disease is also called tick-borne fever (TBF) in ruminants. Extremely rare in the USA, TBF is very common in Europe, where it causes economic losses in livestock. Conversely, HGA is well established in the USA whereas only a few less severe cases have been observed in Europe. Current typing techniques support the existence of multiple variants with differences in virulence/pathogenicity and tropism for certain tick and host species. However, epidemiological cycles remain difficult to characterize in Europe. Several studies describe a cycle apparently involving only birds in Europe, but no such study has been conducted in mainland France. Our objectives were to search for A. phagocytophilum in passerine birds in the Ile-de-France region and to explore their diversity using groEL and ankA gene typing and multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Various tissues (spleen, liver, and skin) were collected from cadavers of 680 passerines between March and December 2021. The presence of A. phagocytophilum was detected by qPCR Taqman targeting the msp2 gene. Three blackbirds (Turdus merula) were found positive, representing detection rates of 0.4 % in all birds tested and 3.3 % in blackbirds. The higher frequency of detection in blackbirds could be at least partially explained by their lifestyle, as they feed on the ground. Analysis of the results of groEL and ankA typing and MLST from positive blackbirds support the hypothesis that the avian A. phagocytophilum strains in Ile-de-France are distinct from those found in mammals, and that they form their own cluster in Europe.
期刊介绍：
Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases is an international, peer-reviewed scientific journal. It publishes original research papers, short communications, state-of-the-art mini-reviews, letters to the editor, clinical-case studies, announcements of pertinent international meetings, and editorials.
The journal covers a broad spectrum and brings together various disciplines, for example, zoology, microbiology, molecular biology, genetics, mathematical modelling, veterinary and human medicine. Multidisciplinary approaches and the use of conventional and novel methods/methodologies (in the field and in the laboratory) are crucial for deeper understanding of the natural processes and human behaviour/activities that result in human or animal diseases and in economic effects of ticks and tick-borne pathogens. Such understanding is essential for management of tick populations and tick-borne diseases in an effective and environmentally acceptable manner.
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