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. 2020 Sep 12:13:106-113.
doi: 10.1016/j.ijppaw.2020.09.001. eCollection 2020 Dec.

Rickettsia parkeri strain Atlantic rainforest in ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) of wild birds in Arauca, Orinoquia region of Colombia

Marelid Cardona-Romero  1 , Estefani T Martínez-Sánchez  1 , Johnathan Alvarez Londoño  1 , William D Tobón-Escobar  1 , Paula A Ossa-López  1   2 , Jorge E Pérez-Cárdenas  3 , Héctor E Ramírez-Chaves  1   4 , Giovanny Blandón-Marín  5 , Ludwin A Cuervo  6 , Gabriel J Castaño-Villa  7 , Fredy A Rivera-Páez  1
Affiliations

Rickettsia parkeri strain Atlantic rainforest in ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) of wild birds in Arauca, Orinoquia region of Colombia

Marelid Cardona-Romero et al. Int J Parasitol Parasites Wildl. .

Abstract

Birds are important hosts for the development of the immature stages of several tick species that are vectors for disease-causing microorganisms in animals and humans. Colombia has the highest number of bird species worldwide; however, there is scarce data on the role of birds in the circulation of ticks and their associated pathogens, such as rickettsiae. The department of Arauca has a high diversity of resident and migratory (boreal and austral) birds and ticks associated with the transmission of Rickettsia. The objective of this research was to identify tick species parasitizing birds and to detect Rickettsia species in these ectoparasites. We conducted samplings in the municipalities of Arauca, Cravo Norte, and Tame between November of 2018 and August of 2019. Birds were captured using mist nets and examined for the presence of tick species. The collected ticks were morphologically and molecularly identified. Furthermore, we detected rickettsiae in ticks by amplifying fragments of the citrate synthase (gltA) and outer membrane protein (ompB) genes. We captured 606 birds belonging to 25 families and 115 species. Tick infestation rate was 3.3% (20/606) in the birds captured and eight new associations between wild birds and ticks are reported for the American continent. We identified four tick species: Amblyomma nodosum, Amblyomma longirostre, Amblyomma mixtum, and Amblyomma sp.. Moreover, we confirmed the presence of Rickettsia parkeri strain Atlantic rainforest in A. nodosum, a medically-relevant rickettsia due to cases of rickettsiosis in the American continent. This finding manifests the importance of wild birds as hosts and dispersal agents of ticks infected with pathogenic rickettsiae, as well as the need to monitor migratory birds in the Orinoquia and other regions of Colombia and America.

Keywords: Amblyomma nodosum; Host; Migratory birds; Pathogen; Rickettsiosis; Vector.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Image 1
Graphical abstract
Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Localities sampled in the municipalities of Arauca, Cravo Norte, and Tame and reports of Rickettsia spp. in the study area (▲Rickettsia parkeri strain Atlantic rainforest).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Phylogenetic tree based on partial sequences of the outer membrane protein gene ompB present only in SFG Rickettsia species. The tree was inferred through Maximum Likelihood with the Tamura 3-parameter evolution model. The sequences obtained in this study appear in bold and the GenBank accessions numbers are provided within square brackets.
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