Abstract：
Tick-borne diseases (TBDs) represent a significant portion of infectious diseases of global public health interest. In Italy, knowledge about the occurrence of tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) in ticks parasitizing cattle is scarce. In this research, we focused on ticks infesting Maremmana cattle grazing in open pasture and silvopasture systems. After being morphologically identified, ticks were molecularly tested for the presence of pathogens of the genus Rickettsia. Of the 794 ticks detected, 117 were collected, being the majority Hyalomma marginatum (72.6%), followed by other Hyalomma species (23%), Rhipicephalus turanicus (1.7%), Rh. bursa (0.9%), Hy. lusitanicum (0.9%) and Dermatocentor marginatus (0.9%). All ticks were adults, 58.1% males and 41.8% females. The highest tick prevalence was noted in April for silvopasture system cattle (90%), and in May for open pasture ones (85%). TBPs were detected only in Hy. marginatum, and all belong to Rickettsia spp. of zoonotic interest. In particular, 21/40 (52.5%) ticks scored positive for Rickettsia spp. by gltA gene and of these 15/21 (71.4%) also to spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsiae by ompA gene. Of the total positive specimens, 19 were successfully sequenced and scored Rickettsia aeschilimannii (17/19, 89.5%), R. slovaca (1/19, 5%), and R. massiliae (1/19, 5%). This research highlights the potential impact of grazing systems on cattle parasitization by hard ticks. The molecular investigation of TBPs in ticks collected from Maremmana cattle shed light on the presence of pathogenic bacteria of SFG Rickettsia spp., pointing out the potential risk of TBPs transmission between livestock and humans.
摘要：
蜱传疾病（TBD）是全球公共卫生关注的传染病的重要组成部分。在意大利,关于寄生牛的蜱中蜱传播病原体（TBP）发生的知识很少。在这项研究中,我们专注于在开阔的牧场和森林牧场系统中放牧Maremmana牛的蜱虫。在被形态学鉴定后，对蜱进行了分子测试，以检测立克次体属病原体的存在。在检测到的794个蜱中，收集了117个，占大多数的Hyalomma边缘（72.6％），其次是其他Hyalomma物种（23％），根皮phanusturanicus（1.7％），Rh.伯尔萨（0.9%），Hy.lusitanicum(0.9%)和marginatus(0.9%)。所有的蜱都是成年人，男性占58.1%，女性占41.8%。在4月份，silvopasture系统牛的tick患病率最高（90％），5月为露天牧场（85%）。TBP仅在Hy中检测到。marginatum,都属于立克次体属。人畜共患的兴趣。特别是,21/40（52.5％）的蜱虫对立克次体属属的评分为阳性。通过gltA基因和这些15/21（71.4％）也通过ompA基因到斑点热组（SFG）立克次体。在总阳性标本中，19例成功测序并评分为立克次体aeschilimannii(17/19，89.5%)，R.slovaca（1/19，5%），和R.massiliae（1/19，5%）。这项研究强调了放牧系统对硬蜱虫寄生牛的潜在影响。从Maremmana牛收集的蜱中TBP的分子研究揭示了SFG立克次体属病原菌的存在。,指出家畜与人之间TBP传播的潜在风险。
