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. 2023 Dec 28;12(1):52.
doi: 10.3390/microorganisms12010052.

The Molecular Detection of Bacterial Infections of Public Health Importance in Hard Tick (Ixodidae) Nymphs Collected from the Forest Fringes of Western Ghats in the Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra States of India

Gnanasekar Ragini  1 , Hari Kishan Raju  1 , Ranganathan Krishnamoorthi  1 , Ayyanar Elango  2 , Subramanian Muthukumaravel  3 , Ashwani Kumar  4
Affiliations

The Molecular Detection of Bacterial Infections of Public Health Importance in Hard Tick (Ixodidae) Nymphs Collected from the Forest Fringes of Western Ghats in the Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra States of India

Gnanasekar Ragini et al. Microorganisms. .

Abstract

A survey was conducted to determine the human tick-borne bacterial infections in the nymphs which were collected from Western Ghats' fringe forest areas. Tick nymphs were collected using the flagging method from the villages where cases Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD) were previously reported in the states of Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra. A total of 200 tick pools consisting of 4587 nymphs were tested by PCR for the detection of bacteria of public health importance, such as Coxiella burnetii and Rickettsia spp. Of these, four pools (4.8%) in Karnataka and three pools (4.4%) in Maharashtra were positive for Coxiella burnetii, while none of the samples from Goa state were positive. Rickettsia spp. were positively obtained from Maharashtra (51.5%), Goa (35.42%) and Karnataka (26.19%). The sequence results of Rickettsia spp. showed similarity to the spotted fever group Candidatus Rickettsia shennongii, Rickettsia conorii subsp. heilongjiangensis and Rickettsia spp. strain koreansis. Individuals are entering into the forest areas for various reasons are more likely to infect with Coxiella burnetii. and Rickettsia spp.

Keywords: Coxiella burnetii; Haemaphysalis spinigera; India; Ixodidae; flagging; nymph.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Map showing two grids covering Goa, Maharashtra, and Karnataka states.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Agarose gel electrophoresis of amplified PCR samples of Coxiella burnetii. Legend: Lane 1: Haemaphysalis spinigera, Lane 2: Haemaphysalis bispinosa, Lane 3: H. bispinosa, Lane 4: H. spinigera, Lane 5: Haemaphysalis turturis, Lane 6: H. spinigera, Lane 7: Negative control, Lane 8: DNA size marker 100 bps.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Agarose gel electrophoresis of amplified PCR samples of Rickettsia spp. Legend: Lane 1: DNA size marker 100 bps, Lane 2: Negative control, Lane 3: Haemaphysalis spinigera, Lane 4: Haemaphysalis turturis, Lane 5: Haemaphysalis bispinosa, Lane 6: H. spinigera, Lane 7: Haemaphysalis wellingtoni, Lane 8: H. bispinosa.
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