Prevalence and phylogenetic characteristics of Anaplasma capra in parasitic ticks from selected regions of Fujian Province

doi:10.12140/j.issn.1000-7423.2025.05.009

Abstract

Abstract:

Objective To investigate the prevalence and genetic evolutionary characteristics of Anaplasma capra in parasitic ticks in selected regions of Fujian Province. Methods Parasitic ticks were collected from domestic and wild animals (including murine, muntjacs, dogs, goats, hares, cattle, wild boars, and pigs) in Zherong County, Zhouning County, Fu’an City and Xiapu County of Ningde City and Pucheng County and Shaowu City of Nanping City from 2011 to 2024. Following morphological and molecular biological identification, genomic DNA was extracted from ticks and A. capra citratesynthase gene (gltA) gene was amplified using nested PCR assay. Positive PCR amplification products were sequenced and initially aligned by BLAST on National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). Sequence alignment was performed using the software MEGA 11, and a phylogenetic tree was created using with the neighbor-joining method. Genetic diversity indices of A. capra gltA gene sequence were calculated using the software DnaSP 6.0, and a haplotype network was constructed using the software PopArt 1.7 after grouping sequences by region using the software Arlequin 3.5.2.2. Comparisons of proportions were done with chi-square test and Fisher’s exact test, and influencing factors were identified using a multivariate logistic regression model. Results A total of 650 ticks were tested, with the highest prevalence of A. capra infection on the muntjac body surface (19.11%, 30/157), followed by on cattle body surface 2/13, and there was a significant difference in the prevalence of A. capra infection in different hosts (χ² = 59.64, P < 0.01). The captured ticks were mainly adults, followed by nymphs. The highest prevalence of A. capra infection was detected in nymphs (15.38%, 8/52), followed by in adults (4.88%, 29/594), with no A. capra infection seen in larval ticks (0/2) or eggs (0/2), and there was no significant difference in the prevalence of A. capra infection in ticks at different developmental stages (χ² = 9.15, P < 0.05). The prevalence of A. capra infection was 7.99% (27/338) and 0.78% (2/256) in female and male adult ticks (χ² = 16.29, P < 0.01). The prevalence of A. capra infection was 5.86% (5/88) in ticks from Zherong County, 11.06% (23/208) in Zhouning County, 0/7 in Fu’an City and 0/7 in Xiapu County of Ningde City and 2.69% (9/335) in Pucheng County and 0/5 in Shaowu City of Nanping City, and there was no region-specific prevalence found (χ² = 15.74, P < 0.01). The prevalence of A. capra infection was 4.64% (7/151) in ticks sampled in summer, and 4.37% (9/206) in autumn, 7.34% (21/286) in winter, and no infection was detected in ticks sampled in spring (0/7) (χ² = 2.86, P > 0.05). Six hundred fifty ticks belonged to 14 species of 5 genera, and the overall prevalence of A. capra infection was 5.69% (37/650) in ticks. A. capra was detected in 7 tick species, with the highest prevalence in Ixodes ovatu (42.86%, 12/28), followed by in Haemaphysalis of unknown species in Fujian Province (31.58%, 12/38) (χ² = 83.16, P < 0.01). Multivariate analysis showed a significantly higher risk of A. capra infection in tick nymphs than in adult ticks (OR = 2.83, 95% CI: 1.15 to 6.94), and a lower risk of A. capra infection was seen in ticks from Nanping City than from Ningdu City (OR = 0.20, 95% CI: 0.08 to 0.50). BLAST analysis showed that the 37 sequences shared 97.88% to 98.92% identity with the A. capra reference sequence (GenBank accession number: OQ847085.1). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the A. capra sequences from this study shared the closest relationship with sequences of A. capra from Qinghai Province. A total of 15 haplotypes were identified in sequences of A. capra from selected regions of Fujian Province, with overall haplotype diversity of 0.88 and nucleotide diversity of 0.009, and Hap1 to Hap3 were dominant haplotypes. Conclusion The prevalence of A. capra infection is high in parasitic ticks in selected regions of Fujian Province. Surveillance and management of tick-borne pathogens are recommended to be intensified.

Key words: Parasitic tick, Anaplasma capra, Influencing factor, Fujian Province

CLC Number:

R384.4

HU Shiju, ZHOU Shuheng, WANG Jiaxiong, ZENG Zhiwei, HAN Tengwei, LIN Fen, WU Shenggen, XIAO Fangzhen. Prevalence and phylogenetic characteristics of Anaplasma capra in parasitic ticks from selected regions of Fujian Province[J]. CHINESE JOURNAL OF PARASITOLOGY AND PARASITIC DISEASES, 2025, 43(5): 656-662.

Figures/Tables 4

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特征 Feature	检测只数 No. detected	感染只数 No. infected	感染率/% Infection rate/%	P值 P value	OR值（95%置信区间） OR value（95% CI）
性别 Gender
雌成蜱 Female adult	338	27	7.99
雄成蜱 Male adult	256	2	0.78
发育期 Stages
成蜱 Adult	594	29	4.88
若蜱 Nymph	52	8	15.38	< 0.05	2.83（1.15~6.94）
幼蜱 Larva	2	0	0	-	-
卵 Egg	2	0	0	-	-
地区 Region
宁德 Ningde	310	28	9.03
南平 Nanping	340	9	2.65	< 0.01	0.20（0.08~0.50）
季节 Season
春季 Spring	7	0	0	-	-
夏季 Summer	151	7	4.64
秋季 Fall	206	9	4.37		1.05（0.38~2.91）
冬季 Winter	286	21	7.34	> 0.05	2.17（0.85~5.54）
宿主 Host
圈养动物 Captive animal	85	3	3.53
野生动物 Wild animal	565	34	6.02	> 0.05	0.64（0.15~2.68）

蜱种 Tick species	感染蜱数/检测蜱数（百分比/%）No. tick infected/No. tick detected (Proportion/%)
蜱种 Tick species	鼠 Murine	山麂 Muntjac	犬 Dog	山羊 Goat	野兔 Hare	牛 Cattle	野猪 Wild boar	猪 Pig	合计Total
长角血蜱 H. longicornis	0/0	0/4	0/0	0/1	0/0	0/0	0/10	0/0	0/15
龟形花蜱 A. testudinarium	0/0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0/16	0/15	0/31（0）
豪猪血蜱 H. hystricis	0/1	0/14	0/14	0/0	0/1	0/0	0/71（0）	0/0	0/101（0）
褐黄血蜱 H. flava	0/0	0/15	0/0	0/0	0/1	0/1	1/7	0/0	1/24（4.17）
基刺硬蜱 I. spinicoxalis	0/0	0/5	0/0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0/5
粒形硬蜱 I. granulatus	0/33（0）	0/0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0/33（0）
卵形硬蜱 I. ovatus	0/0	12/27（44.44）	0/0	0/0	0/1	0/0	0/0	0/0	12/28（42.86）
台岛血蜱 H. formosensis	0/5	3/28（10.17）	0/6	0/0	0/2	2/3	1/106（0.94）	1/5	7/155（4.52）
台湾革蜱 D. taiwanensis	0/11	0/10	0/3	0/0	0/1	0/4	1/113（0.88）	0/17	1/159（0.63）
微小扇头蜱 R. microplus	0/0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0/4	0/0	0/0	0/4
血红扇头蜱 R. sanguineus	0/0	0/0	0/7	0/0	0/0	0/0	0/2	0/0	0/9
越原血蜱 H. yeni	0/0	2/16	0/1	0/3	0/2	0/0	0/7	0/0	2/29（6.90）
中华硬蜱 I. sinensis	0/0	2/10	0/0	0/0	0/8	0/1	0/0	0/0	2/19
待定血蜱 Haemaphysalis sp.	0/0	11/28（39.29）	0/0	0/0	0/2	0/0	1/8	0/0	12/38（31.58）
合计 Total	0/50（0）	30/157（19.11）	0/31（0）	0/4	0/18	2/13	4/340（1.18）	1/37（2.70）	37/650（5.69）