Original Research

Occurrence of Coxiella burnetii, Ehrlichia canis, Rickettsia species and Anaplasma phagocytophilum-like bacterium in ticks collected from dogs and cats in South Africa

Khethiwe Mtshali, Ryo Nakao, Chihiro Sugimoto, Oriel Thekisoe
Journal of the South African Veterinary Association | Vol 88 | a1390 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/jsava.v88i0.1390 | © 2017 Khethiwe Mtshali, Ryo Nakao, Chihiro Sugimoto, Oriel Thekisoe | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 31 January 2016 | Published: 19 May 2017

About the author(s)

Khethiwe Mtshali, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Veterinary Technology Program, Tshwane University of Technology; Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of the Free State, South Africa
Ryo Nakao, Research Center for Zoonosis Control, Hokkaido University, Japan
Chihiro Sugimoto, Research Center for Zoonosis Control, Hokkaido University, Japan
Oriel Thekisoe, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of the Free State; Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, South Africa

Abstract

Ticks are major vectors of arthropod-borne infections and transmit a wide variety of zoonotic pathogens. This study was conducted mainly to determine the occurrence of canine tick-borne bacterial and rickettsial pathogens especially those with zoonotic potential. We examined 276 Rhipicephalus sanguineus, 38 Haemaphysalis elliptica and 4 Amblyomma hebraeum ticks from 90 dogs and 4 cats from the Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, North West and Mpumalanga provinces. DNA of Coxiella burnetii (41%), Ehrlichia or Anaplasma (18%), Rickettsia spp. (37%), Anaplasma phagocytophilum-like bacterium (18%) and Ehrlichia canis (19%) was detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from a total of 147 pooled DNA samples. All samples were negative for the presence of Borrelia burgdorferi DNA. Ehrlichia canis was detected in samples from all the provinces except the North West; A. phagocytophilum was absent in KwaZulu-Natal samples, whereas Rickettsia species and C. burnetii were detected in all sampled provinces. The PCRpositive samples were confirmed by direct sequencing of the product. Data from this study calls for a joint effort by both veterinary and medical sectors to conduct epidemiological studies of the zoonotic pathogens in both animals and humans.

Keywords

coxiella burnetii; anaplasma phagocytophilum; ehrlichia canis; ricketssia; borrelia burgdorferi; ticks

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