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New records and host associations of the tick Ixodes apronophorus and the first detection of Ehrlichia sp. HF in Romania

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Abstract

Ixodes (Ixodes) apronophorus is a neglected tick species and its geographical distribution, host associations, and role as a disease vector are not well known. We collected I. apronophorus from several locations in Romania. Morphological identification of ticks was confirmed by analysis of 16S rDNA and 12S rDNA gene sequences. We report new host associations of I. apronophorus, which was collected from dogs, foxes, and a hare—all new hosts for this tick species in Romania. Furthermore, we report for the first time occurrence of Ehrlichia sp. HF in I. apronophorus. Ehrlichia sp. HF was identified by sequencing a part of the 16S rDNA gene and was found in 16% (3/19) of the tested ticks. Ehrlichia sp. HF has not been previously reported in Eastern Europe and seems to have a much larger geographic distribution than previously known. Currently, it is unknown whether I. apronophorus is a competent vector for Ehrlichia sp. HF, or if the findings in this study represent infection in the hosts, namely dogs and fox.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Professor Martin Pfeffer for valuable comments on the manuscript and Byrgit Hofmann for excellent technical assistance. We thank Michael Levin for the help in language.

Funding

This work was funded by the German Center of Infection Research (DZIF) (LCD) and by the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry (MOA).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Ecology and Evolution in Microbial Model Systems (EEMiS), Linnaeus University, SE-391 82, Kalmar, Sweden

    Martin O. Andersson

  2. Sal-Vet Private Veterinary Clinics, Timisoara, Timis County, Romania

    Gabriel Radbea

  3. Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology, Neuherbergstrasse 11, D-80937, Munich, Germany

    Dimitrios Frangoulidis & Lidia Chitimia-Dobler

  4. German Center of Infection Research (DZIF) Partner Munich, Munich, Germany

    Dimitrios Frangoulidis & Lidia Chitimia-Dobler

  5. Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Institute of Bacterial Infections and Zoonoses, Naumburger Strasse 96a, 07743, Jena, Germany

    Herbert Tomaso

  6. Institute for Veterinary Public Health, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Franz Rubel

  7. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Rafaela, and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Santiago Nava

  8. Institute for Diagnosis and Animal Health, Bucharest, Romania

    Lidia Chitimia-Dobler

Authors
  1. Martin O. Andersson
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  2. Gabriel Radbea
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  3. Dimitrios Frangoulidis
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  4. Herbert Tomaso
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  6. Santiago Nava
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  7. Lidia Chitimia-Dobler
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lidia Chitimia-Dobler.

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Section Editor: Domenico Otranto

Electronic supplementary material

ESM 1

Supplementary map Ixodes apronophorus ditribution in Romania: red dots – new finding, yellow dot – Feider (1965); blue dot – Mihalca et al. (2012) and Ehrlichia sp. HF locations in Romania represented by white stars (PNG 1525 kb)

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Andersson, M.O., Radbea, G., Frangoulidis, D. et al. New records and host associations of the tick Ixodes apronophorus and the first detection of Ehrlichia sp. HF in Romania. Parasitol Res 117, 1285–1289 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-018-5800-3

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