Potential tick vectors for Theileria equi in Israel |
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| Authors: | S. Tirosh-Levy A. Steinman A. Einhorn D. A. Apanaskevich K. Y. Mumcuoglu Y. Gottlieb |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Koret School of Veterinary Medicine, Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel;2. U.S. National Tick Collection, Institute for Coastal Plain Science, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA, U.S.A. Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St Petersburg, Russia;3. Parasitology Unit, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Kuvin Centre for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel |
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| Abstract: | Theileria equi Mehlhorn and Schein, 1998 (Piroplasmida: Babesiidae) is an important tick-borne pathogen of horses that is highly endemic in many parts of the world, including Israel. The present study evaluated the potential roles of five hard tick species [Hyalomma excavatum Koch, 1844; Hyalomma marginatum Koch, 1844; Rhipicephalus turanicus Pomerantsev 1936; Rhipicephalus annulatus Say, 1821; Haemaphysalis parva (Neumann, 1897) (all: Ixodida: Ixodidae)], previously found to infest horses in Israel, in acting as vectors for piroplasmosis. For this, DNA was extracted from whole ticks and, when possible, from the salivary glands in each species (n = 10–59). Polymerase chain reaction amplification and sequencing of the 18S rRNA gene were used to detect T. equi in 48 of the 127 ticks (37.8%) and in 21 of the 90 extracted salivary glands (23.3%) in all five species. All but two sequences were classified as T. equi genotype A; the remaining two were classified as genotype D. The findings of this study point to Ha. parva and R. annulatus as potential novel vectors of T. equi, and suggest that parasite genotype selection occurs within the tick vector. |
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| Keywords: | Equine piroplamosis haemoprotozoan parasite ixodid ticks salivary glands vector-borne disease |
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