Abstract：
The Garrano is a semi-feral horse breed native to several mountains in the northern Iberian Peninsula. Despite being endangered, this unique breed of pony has managed to survive in the wild and continues to be selectively bred, highlighting their remarkable resilience and adaptability to harsh environments. Wildlife plays a critical role in the survival of tick vectors in their natural habitats and the transfer of tick-borne pathogens, as they can serve as reservoir hosts for many agents and amplifiers for these vectors. The semi-feral lifestyle of the Garrano horses makes them particularly vulnerable to exposure to numerous tick species throughout the year. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence of Anaplasma, Ehrlichia, Babesia, Theileria, and spotted fever rickettsiae in the Garrano horse ticks to obtain a knowledge of circulating agents in this host population. The collected ticks (n = 455) were identified as Rhipicephalus bursa. DNA specimens were organized in pools of 5 ticks, for molecular screening. Pools PCR results confirmed the presence of Candidatus Rickettsia barbariae (n = 12 for the ompB gene, n = 11 for the ompA gene and n = 6 for the gltA gene), Babesia bigemina (n = 1), Babesia caballi (n = 3), Theileria equi (n = 15) and Theileria haneyi (n = 1).These results confirm the circulation of an emerging rickettsial spotted fever group member, Candidatus R. barbariae, in R. bursa ticks. Our findings demonstrated that Candidatus R. barbariae co-circulates with B. bigemina and T. equi, which are vectored by R. bursa. We are reporting for the first time, the detection of T. haneyi among R. bursa ticks feeding in the Garrano horses in Portugal. Surveillance studies for tick-borne infections are essential to provide information that can facilitate the implementation of preventive and control strategies.
摘要：
Garrano是一种半野马品种，原产于伊比利亚半岛北部的几座山脉。尽管濒临灭绝,这种独特的小马品种设法在野外生存，并继续选择性繁殖，突出了他们对恶劣环境的非凡韧性和适应性。野生动物在蜱媒介在其自然栖息地的生存和蜱传播病原体的转移中起着至关重要的作用，因为它们可以作为许多媒介的水库宿主和这些媒介的放大器。Garrano马的半野性生活方式使它们全年特别容易暴露于许多tick虫物种。因此,这项研究的目的是调查无性体的发生，埃里希亚,巴贝西亚,Theileria,并在Garrano马蜱中发现了发烧立克次体，以了解该宿主种群中的循环因子。收集的蜱(n=455)被鉴定为法氏囊。DNA样本被组织在5个蜱池中，用于分子筛选。PoolsPCR结果证实了念珠菌立克次体的存在（ompB基因的n=12，ompA基因n=11，gltA基因n=6），Babesiabigemina(n=1),巴贝西亚（n=3），Theileriaequi（n=15）和Theileriahaneyi（n=1）。这些结果证实了一个新出现的立克次体斑点热组成员的循环，念珠菌，在R.bursa蜱中。我们的发现表明，CandidatusR.barbariae与B.bigemina和T.equi共同循环，由R.Bursa进行了矢量化。我们是第一次报道，在葡萄牙Garrano马中喂食的R.bursa蜱中检测到T.haneyi。蜱传感染的监测研究对于提供有助于实施预防和控制策略的信息至关重要。
