Find in Library

Ticks and tick-borne pathogens significantly threaten human and animal health worldwide. <i>Haemaphysalis longicornis</i> is one of the dominant tick species in East Asia, including China. In the present study, 646 <i>Ha. longicornis</i> ticks were collected from free-ranging domestic sheep in the southern region of Hebei Province, China. Tick-borne pathogens of zoonotic and veterinary importance (i.e., <i>Rickettsia</i>, <i>Anaplasma</i>, <i>Ehrlichia</i>, <i>Borrelia</i>, <i>Theileria</i>, and <i>Hepatozoon</i> spp.) were detected in the ticks using PCR assays and sequence analysis. The prevalence rates of these pathogens were 5.1% (33/646), 15.9% (103/646), 1.2% (8/646), 17.0% (110/646), 0.15% (1/646), and 0.15% (1/646), respectively. For <i>Rickettsia</i> spp., <i>R. japonica</i> (<i>n</i> = 13), <i>R. raoultii</i> (<i>n</i> = 6), and <i>Candidatus</i> R. jingxinensis (<i>n</i> = 14) were detected for the first time in the province, while several <i>Anaplasma</i> spp. were also detected in the ticks, including <i>A. bovis</i> (<i>n</i> = 52), <i>A. ovis</i> (<i>n</i> = 31), <i>A. phagocytophilum</i> (<i>n</i> = 10), and <i>A. capra</i> (<i>n</i> = 10). A putative novel <i>Ehrlichia</i> spp. was also found with a prevalence of 1.2% in the area. The present study provides important data for effectively controlling ticks and tick-borne diseases in the Hebei Province region of China.