Abstract
Tick-borne pathogens are causing severe diseases in livestock, wild animals, and humans. Wild animals play a crucial role in tick-borne pathogens’ transmission life cycle by serving as reservoir hosts or intermediate hosts, posing a continuous risk for domestic animals and humans. The presence of tick-borne pathogens is often ignored in wild animals kept in zoos, which is a public health concern. In the present study, we investigated these pathogens in tick-infested captive wild animals at the Lohi Bher zoo, Pakistan. Blood samples were collected from 22 animals, which include urials (4) (Ovis aries vignei), blackbucks (3) (Antilope cervicapra), fallow deer (1) (Dama dama), hog deer (6) (Axis porcinus), chinkaras (4) (Gazella bennettii), white tiger (2) (Panthera tigris tigris), a giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis), and African lions (2) (Panthera leo). The samples were screened for Piroplasm and Anaplasma spp. by polymerase chain reaction targeting different gene loci. We detected three Theileria spp. and one Anaplasma sp. from the investigated captive wild animals. The Theileria sp. dama gazelle was detected from chinkara, Theileria sp. NG-2012b from chinkara and giraffe and T. parva from African lion, and Anaplasma bovis was identified in a giraffe. Moreover, Theileria sp. and Anaplasma sp. coinfection was detected in one giraffe. Overall, this study shows that Theileria spp. and Anaplasma spp. are circulating in captive wild animals, which can play an important role in their spread. Further studies are required to monitor tick-borne pathogens in zoo animals and their potential to spread from exotic wild captive animals to local wild and domestic.
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Data availability
Sequences are submitted in the GenBank database under accession numbers: MN209937–MN209941 for 18S rRNA and MN213735 for 16S rRNA.
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Funding
This study was financially supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2018YFD0502305, 2017YFD0501200, 2017YFD0502300); ASTIP (CAAS-ASTIP-2016-LVRI; NBCIS (CARS-37); 973 Program (2015CB150300); Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center program for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Disease and Zoonosis.
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MUM and NI performed the experiments and data analysis and drafted the manuscript. ZN participated in the sample collection. JY and TLP designed this study and critically revised the manuscript. The authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Animal treatments and sample preparation complied with the Animal Ethics Procedures and Guidelines and were approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of Lohi Bher zoo.
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Mukhtar, M.U., Iqbal, N., Yang, J. et al. The first molecular identification and phylogenetic analysis of tick-borne pathogens in captive wild animals from Lohi Bher zoo, Pakistan. Parasitol Res 121, 3321–3326 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-022-07666-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-022-07666-6