%0 Journal Article
%T Assessment of tick-borne pathogens presence in Dermacentor reticulatus ticks in north-eastern Poland.
%A Dunaj J
%A Trzeszczkowski A
%A Moniuszko-Malinowska A
%A Rutkowski K
%A Pancewicz S
%J Adv Med Sci
%V 66
%N 1
%D Mar 2021
%M 33461099
%F 2.852
%R 10.1016/j.advms.2021.01.002
%X <B>OBJECTIVE: </B>Dermacentor reticulatus is the second most common tick species in Poland after Ixodes ricinus. The aim of the study was to analyze the presence of pathogen DNA in D. reticulatus.<BR><B>METHODS: </B>Ticks were collected in The Protected Landscape Area of the Bug and Nurzec Valley (52°40' N and 22°28' E) between 2016 and 2017. End-point PCR for Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Babesia spp., Rickettsia spp., Bartonella spp. and Coxiella burnetii detection was performed.<BR><B>RESULTS: </B>Tick-borne pathogens' DNA was detected in 11.3% of 301 ticks: B. burgdorferi s.l. in 3.6%, Babesia spp. in 6.3%, A. phagocytophilum in 0.7% and B. burgdorferi s.l.-Babesia spp. co-infection in 0.7%. In all 21 Babesia spp. positive samples, sequence analysis confirmed the presence of Babesia canis with an 80.3%-98.3% homology with the B. canis sequences in GenBank. C. burnetii, Bartonella spp., and Rickettsia spp. DNA were not detected.<BR><B>CONCLUSIONS: </B>Dermacentor reticulatus from north-eastern Poland were found to carry three of the most common tick-borne pathogens (B. burgdorferi s.l., Babesia canis, A. phagocytophilum) which lead to single and mixed infections. Babesia canis was the most prevalent pathogen identified in D. reticulatus.