Co-infection and genetic diversity of tick-borne pathogens in roe deer from Poland

Wild species are essential hosts for maintaining Ixodes ticks and the tick-borne diseases. The aim of our study was to estimate the prevalence, the rate of co-infection with Babesia, Bartonella, and Anaplasma phagocytophilum, and the molecular diversity of tick-borne pathogens in roe deer in Poland. Almost half of the tested samples provided evidence of infection with at least 1 species. A. phagocytophilum (37.3%) was the most common and Bartonella (13.4%) the rarest infection. A total of 18.3% of all positive samples from roe deer were infected with at least 2 pathogens, and one-third of those were co-infected with A. phagocytophilum, Bartonella, and Babesia species. On the basis of multilocus molecular studies we conclude that: (1) Two different genetic variants of A. phagocytophilum, zoonotic and nonzoonotic, are widely distributed in Polish roe deer population; (2) the roe deer is the host for zoonotic Babesia (Bab. venatorum, Bab. divergens), closely related or identical with strains/species found in humans; (3) our Bab. capreoli and Bab. divergens isolates differed from reported genotypes at 2 conserved base positions, i.e., positions 631 and 663; and (4) this is the first description of Bart. schoenbuchensis infections in roe deer in Poland. We present 1 of the first complex epidemiological studies on the prevalence of Babesia, Bartonella, and A. phagocytophilum in naturally infected populations of roe deer. These game animals clearly have an important role as reservoir hosts of tick-borne pathogens, but the pathogenicity and zoonotic potential of the parasite genotypes hosted by roe deer requires further detailed investigation.

Occurrence of demodex spp. (Acari, Demodecidae) in the striped field mouse Apodemus agrarius (Rodentia, Muridae) in Poland

The hair follicle mites (Acari, Demodecidae) are obligatory and specific parasites of mammals, important in human and veterinary medicine. The family is represented by more than 100 species worldwide and 30 in Poland, therein 11 species (and 3 subspecies) were discovered from 10 species of native rodents. Fifty two striped field mice Apodemus agrarius from eastern Pomerania (Poland) were examined in 2006-2007; the presence of mites was confirmed by the standard method of digesting skin fragments (from head, belly, groin, limbs, genital-anal region, neck and back). Two demodectic mites were found: Demodex agrarii and D. arvicolae--specifically the form D. a. apodemi, previously recorded in the wood mouse (Apodemus silvaticus). Demodex spp. were noted in 53.8% of the examined mice; D. arvicolae was the dominant species (prevalence 48.1%, mean intensity 12.5), whereas D. agrarii was found in only a few hosts (prevalence 13.5%, mean intensity 7.6); these mites were more frequently found in males. D. a. apodemi were found mainly in skin of head and very few in skin of genital-anal region. D. agrarii lives in the ducts of the auricular sebaceous gland, in which all its developmental stages have been found; it is precisely the specific habitat of D. agrarii that determines its large size and its strongly elongated shape.