Alexandr Morozov, Anna Victorova, Ion Toderas
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quantitative analysis, ticks, birds, Borrelia, Rickettsia
Epidemiological knowledge on quantity data of pathogens loads in ticks scarce. Quantitative studies of bacterial loads in ticks collected from birds is even more rarely described. To reduce this gap of information, a 192 Ixodes ricinus nymphs collected from birds in Republic of Moldova were examined. Nucleic acids were extracted from individual ticks, followed by PCR amplification specifically targeting Rickettsia spp. and Borrelia spp. The study found that the average bacterial load for ticks with only one type of detected bacteria was 3.53 × 103 for Borrelia and 1.23 × 105 Rickettsia. In ticks where DNA from both pathogens was detected, the average bacterial load was 9.47 × 104, with specific loads of 2.81 × 103 for Borrelia and 9.17 × 104 for Rickettsia per tick. Ticks testing positive for Rickettsia exhibited a significantly higher bacterial load compared to those only positive for Borrelia DNA. The highest average bacterial loads were observed in nymphs collected from blackbirds, followed by those from starlings. The study also noted no statistically significant differences in bacterial loads between ticks with mono-detection of pathogens and those with co-detection of Borrelia and Rickettsia.
Cite this paper: Morozov, A., Victorova, A., Toderas, I. (2024). QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF BACTERIAL LOAD OF BORRELIA SPP. AND RICKETTSIA SPP. IN IXODES RICINUS TICKS COLLECTED FROM BIRDS IN DIFFERENT SITES OF REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA. Current Trends in Natural Sciences, 13(25), 255-259. https://doi.org/10.47068/ctns.2024.v13i25.030
