Microorganisms (Apr 2024)

<i>Anaplasma phagocytophilum</i> in Ticks Blood-Feeding on Migratory Birds in Sweden

  • Peter Wilhelmsson,
  • Malin Lager,
  • Thomas G. T. Jaenson,
  • Jonas Waldenström,
  • Björn Olsen,
  • Per-Eric Lindgren

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms12040735
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 4
p. 735

Abstract

Read online

Migratory birds play a dual role as potential reservoirs of tick-borne pathogens, and potential dispersers of pathogen-containing ticks during their migratory journeys. Ixodes ricinus, a prevalent tick species in Northern and Western Europe, serves as a primary vector for Anaplasma phagocytophilum—a bacterium with implications for human and animal health. There is limited information available regarding A. phagocytophilum in birds. Our investigation focused on A. phagocytophilum prevalence in ticks collected from migratory birds in southeastern Sweden. The identification of ticks involved both molecular analyses for species determination and morphological classification to ascertain the developmental stage. The presence of A. phagocytophilum was determined using real-time PCR. Of the 1115 ticks analyzed from 4601 birds, 0.9% (n = 10), including I. ricinus and Ixodes frontalis, tested positive for A. phagocytophilum. Notably, common blackbirds (Turdus merula) yielded the highest number of A. phagocytophilum-infected ticks. The findings suggest that A. phagocytophilum is present in a small proportion of ticks infesting migratory birds in southeastern Sweden. Consequently, the role of birds as hosts for ticks infected with A. phagocytophilum appears to be low, suggesting that birds seem to play a minor indirect role in the geographic dispersal of A. phagocytophilum.

Keywords