AUTHOR=Peng Yongshuai , Wang Kunlun , Zhao Shanshan , Yan Yaqun , Wang Haiyan , Jing Jichun , Jian Fuchun , Wang Rongjun , Zhang Longxian , Ning Changshen 

TITLE=Detection and Phylogenetic Characterization of Anaplasma capra: An Emerging Pathogen in Sheep and Goats in China

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2018

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cellular-and-infection-microbiology/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2018.00283

DOI=10.3389/fcimb.2018.00283

ISSN=2235-2988

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Anaplasma capra</italic> is an emerging pathogen, which can infect ruminants and humans. This study was conducted to determine the occurrence of <italic>A. capra</italic> in the blood samples of sheep and goats in China. Using nested polymerase chain reaction (nested-PCR) targeting the <italic>gltA</italic> gene and conventional PCR targeting the heat shock protein (<italic>groEL</italic>) gene and the major surface protein4 gene (<italic>msp4</italic>), <italic>A. capra</italic> was detected in 129 (8.9%) of 1453 sheep and goat blood samples. The positive rate was higher in goats (9.4%, 89/943) than in sheep (7.8%, 40/510) (χ<sup>2</sup> = 1.04, <italic>p</italic> &gt; 0.05, <italic>df</italic> = 1). For sheep, <italic>A. capra</italic> was found in 17 sites from 2 provinces. The prevalence was 28.6% in sheep from Liaoning province, which was higher than in Henan Province (7.3%). For goats, <italic>A. capra</italic> was detected in 35 sites from 7 provinces. The prevalence varied from 0 to 19.4% in the goat sites examined. The prevalence rates were 19.4, 19.3, 10, 8.8, 6.8, 1.8, and 0% in goats from Guizhou province, Henan Province, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Shanxi Province, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Yunnan province, and Gansu province, respectively. Based on the analysis of the <italic>A. capra</italic> citrate synthase gene <italic>(gltA</italic>), two variants were identified. Variant I showed a high sequence similarity to the <italic>A. capra</italic>, which were previously reported in sheep, goats, <italic>Ixodes persulcatus, Haemaphysalis longicornis, Haemaphysalis qinghaiensis</italic>, and humans. Variant II was only found in Luoyang, Anyang, and Sanmengxia, of Henan province. To our knowledge, this is the first detection of this variant of <italic>A. capra</italic> in sheep and goat blood in China. Phylogenetic analysis based on <italic>groEL</italic> and <italic>msp4</italic> genes showed that the <italic>Anaplasma</italic> sp. sequences clustered independently from <italic>A. capra</italic> and other <italic>Anaplasma</italic> species with high bootstrap values. We found <italic>A. capra</italic> DNA in sheep and goats in China, providing evidence that sheep and goats can be infected by <italic>A. capra</italic>. We also found that this zoonotic pathogen is widely distributed in China. This study provides information for assessing the public health risks for human anaplasmosis.</p>