Tick-borne diseases have become a world health concern, emerging with increasing incidence in recent decades. Spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsiae are tick-borne pathogens recognized as important agents of human tick-borne diseases worldwide. In this study, 88 adult ticks from the species Hyalomma anatolicum, Rhipicephalus annulatus, Rh. bursa, Rh. sanguineus sensu lato, and Rh. turanicus, were collected from farm ruminants in Lebanon, and SFG rickettsiae were molecularly identified and characterized in these ticks. The screening showed a prevalence of 68% for Rickettsia spp., including the species R. aeschlimannii, R. africae, R. massiliae and Candidatus R. barbariae, the latter considered an emerging member of the SFG rickettsiae. These findings contribute to a better knowledge of the distribution of these pathogens and demonstrate that SFG rickettsiae with public health relevance are found in ticks collected in Lebanon, where the widespread distribution of tick vectors and possible livestock animal hosts in contact with humans may favor transmission to humans. Few reports exist for some of the tick species identified here as being infected with SFG Rickettsia. Some of these tick species are proven vectors of the hosted rickettsiae, although this information is unknown for other of these species. Therefore, these results suggested further investigation on the vector competence of the tick species with unknown role in transmission of some of the pathogens identified in this study.
- MeSH
- farmy MeSH
- fylogeneze MeSH
- Ixodidae mikrobiologie MeSH
- koně MeSH
- kozy MeSH
- nemoci koní epidemiologie mikrobiologie MeSH
- nemoci koz epidemiologie mikrobiologie MeSH
- nemoci ovcí epidemiologie mikrobiologie MeSH
- nemoci skotu epidemiologie mikrobiologie MeSH
- ovce MeSH
- prevalence MeSH
- Rickettsia klasifikace fyziologie MeSH
- sekvenční analýza DNA MeSH
- skot MeSH
- skvrnité horečky epidemiologie mikrobiologie veterinární MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- skot MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
- Geografické názvy
- Libanon epidemiologie MeSH
