High Diversity and Low Coinfections of Pathogens in Ticks from Ruminants in Pakistan
Emerging tick-borne infections pose growing public health threats, causing global disease burdens and economic losses. In this study, tick-borne pathogens were detected in ticks collected from ruminants in 19 sites of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan, between 2023 and 2024. A total of 989 ticks...
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MDPI AG
2025-05-01
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/13/6/1276 |
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| author | Laila Jamil Cheng Li Yifei Wang Jabran Jamil Wenya Tian Di Zhao Shijing Shen Yi Sun Lin Zhao Wuchun Cao |
| author_facet | Laila Jamil Cheng Li Yifei Wang Jabran Jamil Wenya Tian Di Zhao Shijing Shen Yi Sun Lin Zhao Wuchun Cao |
| author_sort | Laila Jamil |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Emerging tick-borne infections pose growing public health threats, causing global disease burdens and economic losses. In this study, tick-borne pathogens were detected in ticks collected from ruminants in 19 sites of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan, between 2023 and 2024. A total of 989 ticks, belonging to five species, i.e., <i>Hyalomma marginatum</i>, <i>Rhipicephalus microplus</i>, <i>Rhipicephalus sanguineus</i>, <i>Rhipicephalus haemaphysaloides</i>, and <i>Haemaphysalis bispinosa</i>, were tested by specific PCR followed by Sanger sequencing. In total, fourteen pathogens including two <i>Anaplasma</i> species, three <i>Ehrlichia</i> species, three <i>Rickettsia</i> species, one <i>Babesia</i> species, and five <i>Theileria</i> species were identified, with an overall infection rate of 20.2% (95% CI: 17.7–22.7%). Phylogenetic analyses revealed two undefined <i>Ehrlichia</i> species: <i>Candidatus</i> Ehrlichia hyalommae was exclusively detected in <i>Hy</i>. <i>marginatum</i> ticks, while <i>Candidatus</i> Ehrlichia rhipicephalis was only found in <i>R. microplus</i>. Additionally, an undefined <i>Rickettsia</i>, provisionally named <i>Candidatus</i> Rickettsia pakistanensis, was identified, which is phylogenetically close to <i>R. sibirica</i> in North Asia and <i>R. africae</i> in Africa, suggesting its potential pathogenicity to humans. Although coinfections of two pathogens were observed, the coinfection rates were quite low. The findings revealed a significant diversity of tick-borne pathogens in Pakistani ticks, which may pose risks to livestock and humans. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e820d28f3eab4e7a89c1ac3d484485e9 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2076-2607 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Microorganisms |
| spelling | doaj-art-e820d28f3eab4e7a89c1ac3d484485e92025-08-20T03:27:37ZengMDPI AGMicroorganisms2076-26072025-05-01136127610.3390/microorganisms13061276High Diversity and Low Coinfections of Pathogens in Ticks from Ruminants in PakistanLaila Jamil0Cheng Li1Yifei Wang2Jabran Jamil3Wenya Tian4Di Zhao5Shijing Shen6Yi Sun7Lin Zhao8Wuchun Cao9Institute of EcoHealth, School of Public Health, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, ChinaInstitute of EcoHealth, School of Public Health, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, ChinaInstitute of EcoHealth, School of Public Health, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, ChinaLivestock and Dairy Development (Ext.) Department, Peshawar 25000, PakistanInstitute of EcoHealth, School of Public Health, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, ChinaInstitute of EcoHealth, School of Public Health, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, ChinaInstitute of EcoHealth, School of Public Health, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Beijing 100071, ChinaInstitute of EcoHealth, School of Public Health, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, ChinaInstitute of EcoHealth, School of Public Health, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, ChinaEmerging tick-borne infections pose growing public health threats, causing global disease burdens and economic losses. In this study, tick-borne pathogens were detected in ticks collected from ruminants in 19 sites of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan, between 2023 and 2024. A total of 989 ticks, belonging to five species, i.e., <i>Hyalomma marginatum</i>, <i>Rhipicephalus microplus</i>, <i>Rhipicephalus sanguineus</i>, <i>Rhipicephalus haemaphysaloides</i>, and <i>Haemaphysalis bispinosa</i>, were tested by specific PCR followed by Sanger sequencing. In total, fourteen pathogens including two <i>Anaplasma</i> species, three <i>Ehrlichia</i> species, three <i>Rickettsia</i> species, one <i>Babesia</i> species, and five <i>Theileria</i> species were identified, with an overall infection rate of 20.2% (95% CI: 17.7–22.7%). Phylogenetic analyses revealed two undefined <i>Ehrlichia</i> species: <i>Candidatus</i> Ehrlichia hyalommae was exclusively detected in <i>Hy</i>. <i>marginatum</i> ticks, while <i>Candidatus</i> Ehrlichia rhipicephalis was only found in <i>R. microplus</i>. Additionally, an undefined <i>Rickettsia</i>, provisionally named <i>Candidatus</i> Rickettsia pakistanensis, was identified, which is phylogenetically close to <i>R. sibirica</i> in North Asia and <i>R. africae</i> in Africa, suggesting its potential pathogenicity to humans. Although coinfections of two pathogens were observed, the coinfection rates were quite low. The findings revealed a significant diversity of tick-borne pathogens in Pakistani ticks, which may pose risks to livestock and humans.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/13/6/1276high diversityphylogenetic analysis<i>Anaplasma</i><i>Ehrlichia</i><i>Rickettsia</i><i>Babesia</i> |
| spellingShingle | Laila Jamil Cheng Li Yifei Wang Jabran Jamil Wenya Tian Di Zhao Shijing Shen Yi Sun Lin Zhao Wuchun Cao High Diversity and Low Coinfections of Pathogens in Ticks from Ruminants in Pakistan Microorganisms high diversity phylogenetic analysis <i>Anaplasma</i> <i>Ehrlichia</i> <i>Rickettsia</i> <i>Babesia</i> |
| title | High Diversity and Low Coinfections of Pathogens in Ticks from Ruminants in Pakistan |
| title_full | High Diversity and Low Coinfections of Pathogens in Ticks from Ruminants in Pakistan |
| title_fullStr | High Diversity and Low Coinfections of Pathogens in Ticks from Ruminants in Pakistan |
| title_full_unstemmed | High Diversity and Low Coinfections of Pathogens in Ticks from Ruminants in Pakistan |
| title_short | High Diversity and Low Coinfections of Pathogens in Ticks from Ruminants in Pakistan |
| title_sort | high diversity and low coinfections of pathogens in ticks from ruminants in pakistan |
| topic | high diversity phylogenetic analysis <i>Anaplasma</i> <i>Ehrlichia</i> <i>Rickettsia</i> <i>Babesia</i> |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/13/6/1276 |
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