Anaplasma ; Anaplasma phagocytophilum ; Ehrlichiosis ; Humans

A total of 1,395 Haemaphysalis longicornis ticks collected from Jeju Island of Korea were examined by 16S rRNA gene-based nested PCR for the presence of infection with Anaplasma and Ehrlichia species. Template DNAs to detect the tick-borne pathogens were prepared from a total 506 tick pools. Eight genera of Anaplasma and six Ehrlichia by 16S rRNA gene PCR and sequencing analysis were identified. A. phagocytophilum was the most prevalent (27 [1.9%]) by nested PCR, followed by A. bovis (5 [0.4%]), E. chaffeensis (4 [0.2%]), and A. centrale (1 [0.1%]). In the phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA sequences, eight genera of Anaplasma group (> 99.4% homology) and six Ehrlichia group (> 99.5% homology) were close to deposited A. marginale strains (AF309867, AF414874, and FJ226454) and Ehrlichia sp. (DQ324547), respectively. Three Anaplasma species groups A. phagocytophilum (group A), A. bovis (group B), and A. centrale (group C) and one Ehrlichia species E. chaffeensis (group D) were determined by comparing with Anaplasma and Ehrlichia related sequences. First, twenty-eight A. phagocytophilum clones belonging to group A were divided into 7 genotypes. The sequence similarity among genotypes A1 to A4 was very high (> 99.6%). Genotype B2 was close to A. bovis from Korea (99.7%). Genotype D1 was close to known E. chaffeensis strains (M73222, AF147752, and AY350424) and their similarity value was 99.7%. In conclusion, the genera of Anaplasma/Ehrlichia, A. phagocytophilum, and E. chaffeensis identified in predominant H. longicornis ticks were ubiquitous throughout the Jeju Island. The various native groups have been found through sequence identities and phylogenetic analysis.
Anaplasma ; Anaplasma phagocytophilum ; Clone Cells ; DNA ; Ehrlichia ; Ehrlichia chaffeensis ; Genes, rRNA ; Genotype ; Korea ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Ticks

Members of the genus Anaplasma are important emerging tick-borne pathogens in both humans and animals in tropical and subtropical areas. Here, we investigated the presence of Anaplasma spp. in 621 sheep and 710 goats from six provinces of China. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and DNA sequencing were conducted to determine the prevalence of Anaplasma (A.) phagocytophilum, A. ovis and A. bovis targeting the 16S ribosomal RNA or the major surface protein 4 gene. PCR revealed Anaplasma in 39.0% (240/621) of sheep and 45.5% (323/710) of goats. The most frequently detected species was A. ovis (88/621, 14.2% for sheep; 129/710, 18.2% for goats), followed by A. bovis (60/621, 9.7% for sheep; 74/710, 10.4% for goats) and A. phagocytophilum (33/621, 5.3% for sheep; 15/710, 2.1% for goats). Additionally, eight sheep and 20 goats were found to be infected with three pathogens simultaneously. DNA sequencing confirmed the presence of these three Anaplasma species in the investigated areas, and phylogenetic analysis indicated that there was geographic segregation to a certain extent, as well as a relationship between the host and cluster of A. ovis. The results of the present study provide valuable data that helps understand the epidemiology of anaplasmosis in ruminants from China.
Anaplasma ovis ; Anaplasma phagocytophilum ; Anaplasma* ; Anaplasmosis ; Animals ; China* ; Epidemiology ; Goats* ; Humans ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Prevalence ; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S ; Ruminants ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Sheep*

Anaplasma phagocytophilum ; Anaplasmosis ; epidemiology ; Animals ; China ; epidemiology ; Dermacentor ; microbiology ; Humans ; Molecular Epidemiology

OBJECTIVETo type the Chinese Anaplasma phagocytophilum isolates by Multispacer typing (MST).

METHODSBased on the genomes of the 4 published Anaplasma strains, 4 genomic sequences were analyzed by Mauve 2.3.1 software and variable spacer sequences were selected for designing primers with the bio-software Primer Premier 5.0. A total of 11 Chinese A. phagocytophilum isolates, obtained from different areas of China during 2009-2012 were assayed by the MST. Twenty two intergenic sequences for each isolate tested and the reference A. phagocytophilum strain Webster and A. phagocytophilum strain HZ were concatenated in the order of HGA-mst 1F/1R-mst 2F/2R, HGA-mst 22F/22R.

RESULTSTwenty two pairs of primers were successfully used for typing the Human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA) strains in the study. Those 22 intergenic sequences exhibited a great diversity among the strains tested and each of the strain tested was identified as unique genotype, according to the alignment analysis of the 22 concatenated intergenic sequences. Of these single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) identified in the study, the nucleotide transitions shared the highest percentage (60.2%, 251/417) and then the nucleotide transversion, accounted for 23.0% (96/417) and the indel events (insertion/deletion) were observed of 16.7% (70/417)SNPs. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the 5 strains from patients (LZ-H1, LZ-H2, LZ-H3, LZ-H4, LZ-H5) from Laizhou areas, Shandong province and 1 tick strain (LZ-T1) from Haemaphysalis longicornis collected from the same areas where the patients lived were grouped in the same clan with the reference A. phagocytophilum strain Webster and strain HZ. Beijing isolates (BJ-H1) grouped with Xinjiang isolates (XJ-H1 and XJ-H3) while another tick isolates from Laizhou areas (LZ-T2) and another Xinjiang human isolate(XJ-H2)were in the same clan, which was closely related to the isolates from severe patients in Laizhou.

CONCLUSIONChinese HGA isolates exhibited a great diversity of intergenic regions. MST seemed a valuable tool for the detection and tracing for any endemic strains of Anaplasma during the outbreak investigations in the public health events.

Anaplasma phagocytophilum ; classification ; genetics ; Bacterial Typing Techniques ; methods ; China ; DNA, Ribosomal Spacer ; genetics ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide

Tick-borne rickettsial diseases (TBRD) are commonly encountered in medical and veterinary clinical settings. The control of these diseases is difficult, requiring disruption of a complex transmission chain involving a vertebrate host and ticks. The geographical distribution of the diseases is related to distribution of the vector, which is an indicator of risk for the population. A total of 1,107 ticks were collected by tick dragging from forests, ecotourism parks and hosts at 101 sites in 22 of the 32 states of Mexico. Collected ticks were placed in 1.5 mL cryovials containing 70% ethanol and were identified to species. Ticks were pooled according to location/host of collection, date of collection, sex, and stage of development. A total of 51 ticks were assayed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to confirm species identification using morphological methods. A total of 477 pools of ticks were assayed using PCR techniques for selected tick-borne pathogens. Anaplasma phagocytophilum was the most commonly detected pathogen (45 pools), followed by, Ehrlichia (E.) canis (42), Rickettsia (R.) rickettsii (11), E. chaffeensis (8), and R. amblyommii (1). Rhipicephalus sanguineus was the tick most frequently positive for selected pathogens. Overall, our results indicate that potential tick vectors positive for rickettsial pathogens are distributed throughout the area surveyed in Mexico.
Anaplasma phagocytophilum ; Animals* ; Ehrlichia ; Ehrlichia canis ; Ehrlichia chaffeensis ; Ethanol ; Forests ; Humans* ; Mexico* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Rhipicephalus sanguineus ; Rickettsia ; Ticks* ; Vertebrates

A total of 1,618 ticks [420 individual (adults) and pooled (larvae and nymphs) samples], 369 rodents (Apodemus arius, Rattus norvegicus, Tscherskia triton, Mus musculus, and Myodes regulus), and 34 shrews (Crocidura lasiura) that were collected in northern Gyeonggi-do near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) of Korea during 2004-2005, were assayed by PCR for selected zoonotic pathogens. From a total of 420 individual and pooled tick DNA samples, Anaplasma (A.) phagocytophilum (16), A. platys (16), Ehrlichia (E.) chaffeensis (63), Borrelia burgdorferi (16), and Rickettsia spp. (198) were detected using species-specific PCR assays. Out of 403 spleens from rodents and shrews, A. phagocytophilum (20), A. platys (34), E. chaffeensis (127), and Bartonella spp. (24) were detected with species-specific PCR assays. These results suggest that fevers of unknown causes in humans and animals in Korea should be evaluated for infections by these vector-borne microbial pathogens.
Anaplasma phagocytophilum/genetics/isolation & purification ; Animals ; Biological Warfare ; DNA, Bacterial/genetics/isolation & purification ; Ehrlichiosis/transmission/veterinary ; Humans ; Korea ; Mice/*microbiology ; Rats/*microbiology ; Seasons ; Shrews/*microbiology ; Ticks/*microbiology ; Zoonoses

OBJECTIVETo investigate the prevalence of Anaplasma phagocytophilum in rodents from forest areas in northeastern China.

METHODSPCR amplification, followed by sequence analysis was carried out. The sequences of 16S rRNA and gltA gene fragment amplified from rodent specimens were compared with corresponding part of the sequences deposited in GenBank.

RESULTSA total number of 276 rodents were tested, including 102 in Jilin province, 61 in Helongjiang province and 113 in Inner Mongolia autonomous region. The positive rates were 8.82%, 1.64% and 0.00%, respectively. The infection rate in rodents infected by ticks was 11.30 times higher than that in rodents without ticks (P = 0.002). The S. A. phagocytophilum 16S rRNA sequences from rodents in Jilin and Heilongjiang were identical and differed in 3-5 bases compared with the corresponding parts of A. phagocytophilum from America, Sweden and Japan. Compared with the sequences registered in GenBank, the nucleotide sequence of gltA varied from 87%-97% and its deduced amino acid sequence changed from 84%-99%.

CONCLUSIONA. phagocytophilum infection was presented in rodents from Jilin and Heilongjiang province.

Amino Acid Sequence ; Anaplasma phagocytophilum ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Animals ; Bacterial Proteins ; analysis ; Base Sequence ; China ; Ehrlichiosis ; veterinary ; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S ; analysis ; Rodentia ; microbiology ; Ticks ; Trees

Adult ; Aged ; Anaplasma phagocytophilum ; isolation & purification ; China ; epidemiology ; Ehrlichiosis ; blood ; epidemiology ; Environment ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Rural Population ; Seroepidemiologic Studies

North Korea is located on the northern part of the Korean Peninsula in East Asia. While tick-borne pathogens of medical and veterinary importance have been reported from China and South Korea, they have not been reported from North Korea. To screen for zoonotic tick-borne pathogens in North Korea, ticks were collected from domestic goats. A total of 292 (27 nymph, 26 male, 239 female) Haemaphysalis (H.) longicornis were collected and assayed individually for selected tick-borne pathogens. A total of 77 (26.4%) were positive for Anaplasma bovis, followed by Bartonella (B.) grahamii (15, 5.1%), Anaplasma phagocytophilum (12, 4.1%), Bartonella henselae (10, 3.4%), and Borrelia spp. (3, 1.0%) based on 16S ribosomal RNA and ITS species-specific nested polymerase chain reaction. Using the groEL-based nested PCR, a total of 6 and 1 H. longicornis were positive for B. grahamii and B. henselae, respectively. All products were sequenced and demonstrated 100% identity and homology with previously reported sequences from other countries in GenBank. This is the first report of the detection of tick-borne pathogens in the North Korea and suggests that farm animals may act as reservoirs for zoonotic tick-borne pathogens.
Anaplasma phagocytophilum ; Anaplasma* ; Animals, Domestic ; Bartonella henselae ; Bartonella* ; Borrelia* ; China ; Databases, Nucleic Acid ; Democratic People's Republic of Korea* ; Far East ; Goats* ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Nymph ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Prevalence* ; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S ; Ticks