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Tick-borne zoonotic agents infecting horses from an urban area in Midwestern Brazil: epidemiological and hematological features
The emergence of tick-borne diseases has been reported as a serious problem in public health worldwide and many aspects of its epidemiology and effects on the health of its hosts are unclear. We aimed to perform an epidemiological study of tick-borne zoonotic Rickettsia , Borrelia , and Anaplasmatac...
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Published in: | Tropical animal health and production 2021-11, Vol.53 (5), p.475-475, Article 475 |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Subjects: | |
Citations: | Items that this one cites Items that cite this one |
Online Access: | Get full text |
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Summary: | The emergence of tick-borne diseases has been reported as a serious problem in public health worldwide and many aspects of its epidemiology and effects on the health of its hosts are unclear. We aimed to perform an epidemiological study of tick-borne zoonotic
Rickettsia
,
Borrelia
, and Anaplasmataceae in horses from Midwestern Brazil. We also evaluated whether
Borrelia
spp. and Anaplasmataceae may be associated with hematological disorders in the sampled animals. Blood and serum samples as well as ticks were collected from 262 horses. Serum samples were used to perform serological tests, and hematological analyses were made using whole blood. Furthermore, DNA extracted from whole blood and ticks was used for molecular tests. Campo Grande is enzootic for tick-borne studied bacteria, since we found an overall exposure of 59.9% of the sampled horses, 28.7% of them presented co-exposure. Seropositivity rates of 20.6% for
Borrelia
spp., 25.6% for
Rickettsia
spp., and 31.6% for Anaplasmataceae were found in the sampled horses. Considering both molecular and serological tests for
Borrelia
spp., the infection rate was 48.0% (126/262). None of the tested horses showed molecular positivity for
Anaplasma phagocytophilum
. The horses sampled displayed 7.2% of parasitism by ixodid ticks in single and coinfestations. We did not find DNA of any studied bacteria in the sampled ticks. Positive horses for
Borrelia
spp. and Anaplasmataceae agents displayed leukopenia, monocytopenia, and lymphopenia. Together, our results suggest that horses may play a role as sentinel host for zoonotic bacteria and
Borrelia
spp. and Anaplasmataceae agents can impair the health of horses. |
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ISSN: | 0049-4747 1573-7438 |
DOI: | 10.1007/s11250-021-02887-w |