| Objective: Ticks and fleas,as blood-sucking parasites on the surface of animals,can carry and spread a large number of pathogens,which seriously harm human health and animal husbandry production.Up to now,there is no systemic research of yak,Myospalax baileyi and their ectoparasites.This research aims to investigate the species,prevalence and molecular characteristics of pathogens detected in samples.Therefore,in this study,we aim to investigate the prevalence of tick-borne pathogens in Ruoergai County and provide preliminary data for animal husbandry and further human infection risk research.Methods: In this study,samples were collected in Ruoergai County.Ticks,yaks’ whole blood and yaks’ spleen were collected from 2 rural towns and 2 pastoral towns.Myospalax baileyi and fleas were collected from 2 pastoral towns.They were classified by morphological and molecular identification of ITS-2 and COX-2 genes.Phylogenetic analysis was performed.The partial sequences of 18 S r RNA gene of Theileria and Babesia,16 S r RNA gene of Wolbachia were amplified by PCR.Sequences of positive products were analyzed and compared to each other using DNASTAR v.7.1.0.Sequence analysis of the nucleotides(BLASTn)was performed using the BLAST tool.A Pearson Chi-square test using SPSS was applied to compare the prevalence of insectborne pathogensResults:1)Species of ticks and fleas: Amount to 311 ticks were collected and identified as Dermacentor silvarum and Haemaphysalis qinghaiensis.Among them,there were 129 of D.silvarum(41.5%)and182 of H.qinghaiensis(58.5%).Amount to 170 fleas were collected and identified as Neopsylla paranoma and Stenoponia sidimi.Among them,there were 88 of N.paranoma(51.8%)and 82 for S.sidimi(41.2%).2)Pathogens detection results: The positive rate of pathogens detected in Ruoergai County was28.5%(227/1149)for Theileria and 29.0%(100/1149)for Babesia.Wolbachia was only detected in fleas with a positive rate of 81.9%(129/170).3)The positive rates of Theileria and Babesia: The positive rates were 26.7%(83/311)and 32.2%(83/311)in ticks,27.6%(82/297)and 14.1%(42/297)in yaks’ blood,29.1%(62/213)and 16.4%(35/213)in yaks’ spleen,18.4%(29/158)and 43.0%(68/158)in Myospalax baileyi,and 41.8%(71/170)and 51.8%(88/170)in fleas,respectively..4)The positive rates of Theileria and Babesia: H.qinghaiensis were 30.2%(55/182)and 26.4%(48/182),respectively.D.silvarum were 21.0%(27/129)and 40.3%(52/129),respectively.5)The phylogenetic analysis showed two species of Theileria was detected.Five species of Babesia were detected,which were B.vogeli,B.caballi,B.bigemina,Babesia sp.and Babesia sp.deer clade.Only one species of Wolbachia,W.endosymbiont,was detected based on 16 S r RNA.Conclusion: In Ruoergai County,there awere two species of ticks: D.silvarum and H.qinghaiensis with H.qinghaiensis being the dominant species.There were two species of fleas: N.paranoma and S.sidimi with N.paranoma being the dominant species.Babesia was detected in fleas and Myospalax baileyi in Ruoerg County for the first time,and Wolbachia was detected in fleas for the first time.Theileria and Babesia were highly prevalent in some areas of Ruoergai County.Every kinds of samples some were positive.Hongxing is the higher risk area of Theileria and Baxi is the higher area of Babesia.The results suggested that the positive rates of Theileria and Babesia were high in Ruoergai County,and the local surveillance and control measures should be strengthened. |
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