Host specificity, pathogen exposure, and superinfections impact the distribution of Anaplasma phagocytophilum genotypes in ticks, roe deer, and livestock in a fragmented agricultural landscape
2017
Abstract
Anaplasma phagocytophilumis a bacterial pathogen mainly transmitted by
Ixodes ricinus
ticksin Europe. It infects wild mammals, livestock, and, occasionally, humans.
Roe deerare considered to be the major reservoir, but the genotypes they carry differ from those that are found in livestock and humans. Here, we investigated whether
roe deerwere the main source of the A. phagocytophilum genotypes circulating in questing I.
ricinus
nymphsin a fragmented agricultural landscape in France. First, we assessed pathogen prevalence in 1837 I.
ricinus
nymphs(sampled along georeferenced transects) and 79
roe deer. Prevalence was dramatically different between
ticksand
roe deer: 1.9% versus 76%, respectively. Second, using high-throughput amplicon sequencing, we characterized the diversity of the A. phagocytophilum genotypes found in 22 infected
ticksand 60 infected
roe deer; the aim was to determine the frequency of co-infections. Only 22.7% of infected
tickscarried genotypes associated with
roe deer. This finding fits with others suggesting that cattle density is the major factor explaining infected
tickdensity. To explore epidemiological scenarios capable of explaining these patterns, we constructed compartmental models that focused on how A. phagocytophilum exposure and infection dynamics affected pathogen prevalence in
roe deer. At the exposure levels predicted by the results of this study and the literature, the high prevalence in
roe deerwas only seen in the model in which
superinfectionscould occur during all infection phases and when the probability of infection post exposure was above 0.43. We then interpreted these results from the perspective of livestock and human health.
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