AUTHOR=Ali Abid , Ullah Shafi , Numan Muhammad , Almutairi Mashal M. , Alouffi Abdulaziz , Tanaka Tetsuya 

TITLE=First report on tick-borne pathogens detected in ticks infesting stray dogs near butcher shops

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Veterinary Science

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science/articles/10.3389/fvets.2023.1246871

DOI=10.3389/fvets.2023.1246871

ISSN=2297-1769

ABSTRACT=<p>Public health is a major concern for several developing countries due to infectious agents transmitted by hematophagous arthropods such as ticks. Health risks due to infectious agents transmitted by ticks infesting butcher-associated stray dogs (BASDs) in urban and peri-urban regions have been neglected in several developing countries. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study assessing public health risks due to ticks infesting BASDs in Pakistan’s urban and peri-urban areas. A total of 575 ticks (390 from symptomatic and 183 from asymptomatic BASDs) were collected from 117 BASDs (63 symptomatic and 54 asymptomatic); the ticks belonged to 4 hard tick species. A subset of each tick species’ extracted DNA was subjected to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to amplify the 16S rDNA and <italic>cox1</italic> sequences of the reported tick species, as well as bacterial and protozoal agents. The ticks’ 16S rDNA and <italic>cox1</italic> sequences showed 99–100% identities, and they were clustered with the sequence of corresponding species from Pakistan and other countries in phylogenetic trees. Among the screened 271 ticks’ DNA samples, <italic>Anaplasma</italic> spp. was detected in 54/271 (19.92%) samples, followed by <italic>Ehrlichia</italic> spp. (<italic>n</italic> = 40/271, 14.76%), <italic>Rickettsia</italic> spp. (<italic>n</italic> = 33/271, 12.17%), <italic>Coxiella</italic> spp. (<italic>n</italic> = 23/271, 4.48%), and <italic>Hepatozoon canis</italic> (<italic>n</italic> = 9/271, 3.32%). The obtained sequences and phylogenetic analyzes revealed that the pathogens detected in ticks were <italic>Ehrlichia minasensis</italic>, <italic>Ehrlichia</italic> sp., <italic>Hepatozoon canis</italic>, <italic>Coxiella burnetii</italic>, <italic>Coxiella</italic> sp., <italic>Anaplasma capra</italic>, <italic>Anaplasma platys</italic>, <italic>Anaplasma</italic> sp., <italic>Rickettsia massiliae</italic>, “<italic>Candidatus</italic> Rickettsia shennongii” and <italic>Rickettsia aeschlimannii</italic>. Tick-borne pathogens such as <italic>E. minasensis</italic>, <italic>H. canis</italic>, <italic>A. capra</italic>, <italic>A. platys</italic>, and <italic>R. aeschlimannii</italic>, were detected based on the DNA for the first time in Pakistan. This is the first report on public health risks due to ticks infesting BASDs. These results not only provided insights into the occurrence of novel tick-borne pathogens in the region but also revealed initial evidence of zoonotic threats to both public health and domestic life.</p>