Prevalence of Rickettsia species phylotype G022 and Rickettsia tillamookensis in Ixodes pacificus nymphs and adults from Northern California
Ticks are known vectors of various pathogenic bacteria, including species of Rickettsia. Two novel Rickettsia species have been identified in adult Ixodes pacificus: Rickettsia species phylotype G022 in 2011 and R. tillamookensis in 2021. Currently, the pathogenic potential of these species found in...
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Elsevier
2025-05-01
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| Series: | Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877959X25000275 |
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| author | Erin Trent Andrea Swei Tina Feiszli Megan E.M. Saunders Jianmin Zhong |
| author_facet | Erin Trent Andrea Swei Tina Feiszli Megan E.M. Saunders Jianmin Zhong |
| author_sort | Erin Trent |
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| description | Ticks are known vectors of various pathogenic bacteria, including species of Rickettsia. Two novel Rickettsia species have been identified in adult Ixodes pacificus: Rickettsia species phylotype G022 in 2011 and R. tillamookensis in 2021. Currently, the pathogenic potential of these species found in I. pacificus remains unknown. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of phylotype G022 and R. tillamookensis in I. pacificus nymphs across different mean annual temperature and relative humidity zones in California. Adult ticks were also tested for phylotype G022. Ticks were collected from multiple locations in seven northern California counties and tested by real-time PCR. The overall prevalence of phylotype G022 and R. tillamookensis in nymphs (n = 550) was 5.3 % (95 % CI = 3.7 %-7.5 %) and 1.6 % (95 % CI=0.8 %–3.3 %), respectively. The overall prevalence of phylotype G022 in adult I. pacificus (n = 720) was 9.0 % (95 % CI = 7.2 %-11.3 %). Phylotype G022 infects nymphal I. pacificus across a broad geographic range. The prevalence of phylotype G022 was higher in the 11.7–13.3 °C (53–56°F) temperature zone, at 6.4 % (95 % CI = 4.5 %-9.2 %), compared to the 13.9–15 °C (57–59°F) zone, where the prevalence was 0.8 % (95 % CI = 0.2 %-4.6 %). In contrast, the prevalence of R. tillamookensis did not show a statistically significant difference between the two temperature zones, with 1.9 % (95 % CI = 0.9 %-4.1 % in the 11.7–13.3 °C (53–56°F) zone and 0.9 % (95 % CI = 0.2 %-4.9 %) in the 13.9–15 °C (57–59°F) zone. The detection of phylotype G022 in both questing nymphs and adults of I. pacificus suggests that it is transmitted transstadially. qPCR testing revealed no coinfections of G022 and R. tillamookensis in any of the nymphs. Although R. tillamookensis exhibited a lower overall prevalence in nymphs compared to phylotype G022, both bacteria exhibited a similar geographic distribution. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e582d9af6bfa447b8d1bc27ed2c45cec |
| institution | DOAJ |
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| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
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| series | Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases |
| spelling | doaj-art-e582d9af6bfa447b8d1bc27ed2c45cec2025-08-20T03:19:56ZengElsevierTicks and Tick-Borne Diseases1877-96032025-05-0116310246310.1016/j.ttbdis.2025.102463Prevalence of Rickettsia species phylotype G022 and Rickettsia tillamookensis in Ixodes pacificus nymphs and adults from Northern CaliforniaErin Trent0Andrea Swei1Tina Feiszli2Megan E.M. Saunders3Jianmin Zhong4Department of Biological Sciences, Cal Poly Humboldt, Arcata, CA, USADepartment of Biology, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USAVector-Borne Disease Section, Infectious Diseases Branch, California Department of Public Health, Richmond, CA, USAVector-Borne Disease Section, Infectious Diseases Branch, California Department of Public Health, Richmond, CA, USADepartment of Biological Sciences, Cal Poly Humboldt, Arcata, CA, USA; Corresponding author at: Department of Biological Sciences, Cal Poly Humboldt, Arcata, CA, USA.Ticks are known vectors of various pathogenic bacteria, including species of Rickettsia. Two novel Rickettsia species have been identified in adult Ixodes pacificus: Rickettsia species phylotype G022 in 2011 and R. tillamookensis in 2021. Currently, the pathogenic potential of these species found in I. pacificus remains unknown. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of phylotype G022 and R. tillamookensis in I. pacificus nymphs across different mean annual temperature and relative humidity zones in California. Adult ticks were also tested for phylotype G022. Ticks were collected from multiple locations in seven northern California counties and tested by real-time PCR. The overall prevalence of phylotype G022 and R. tillamookensis in nymphs (n = 550) was 5.3 % (95 % CI = 3.7 %-7.5 %) and 1.6 % (95 % CI=0.8 %–3.3 %), respectively. The overall prevalence of phylotype G022 in adult I. pacificus (n = 720) was 9.0 % (95 % CI = 7.2 %-11.3 %). Phylotype G022 infects nymphal I. pacificus across a broad geographic range. The prevalence of phylotype G022 was higher in the 11.7–13.3 °C (53–56°F) temperature zone, at 6.4 % (95 % CI = 4.5 %-9.2 %), compared to the 13.9–15 °C (57–59°F) zone, where the prevalence was 0.8 % (95 % CI = 0.2 %-4.6 %). In contrast, the prevalence of R. tillamookensis did not show a statistically significant difference between the two temperature zones, with 1.9 % (95 % CI = 0.9 %-4.1 % in the 11.7–13.3 °C (53–56°F) zone and 0.9 % (95 % CI = 0.2 %-4.9 %) in the 13.9–15 °C (57–59°F) zone. The detection of phylotype G022 in both questing nymphs and adults of I. pacificus suggests that it is transmitted transstadially. qPCR testing revealed no coinfections of G022 and R. tillamookensis in any of the nymphs. Although R. tillamookensis exhibited a lower overall prevalence in nymphs compared to phylotype G022, both bacteria exhibited a similar geographic distribution.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877959X25000275Ixodes pacificusNymphal ticksRickettsia species phylotype G022Rickettsia tillamookensis |
| spellingShingle | Erin Trent Andrea Swei Tina Feiszli Megan E.M. Saunders Jianmin Zhong Prevalence of Rickettsia species phylotype G022 and Rickettsia tillamookensis in Ixodes pacificus nymphs and adults from Northern California Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases Ixodes pacificus Nymphal ticks Rickettsia species phylotype G022 Rickettsia tillamookensis |
| title | Prevalence of Rickettsia species phylotype G022 and Rickettsia tillamookensis in Ixodes pacificus nymphs and adults from Northern California |
| title_full | Prevalence of Rickettsia species phylotype G022 and Rickettsia tillamookensis in Ixodes pacificus nymphs and adults from Northern California |
| title_fullStr | Prevalence of Rickettsia species phylotype G022 and Rickettsia tillamookensis in Ixodes pacificus nymphs and adults from Northern California |
| title_full_unstemmed | Prevalence of Rickettsia species phylotype G022 and Rickettsia tillamookensis in Ixodes pacificus nymphs and adults from Northern California |
| title_short | Prevalence of Rickettsia species phylotype G022 and Rickettsia tillamookensis in Ixodes pacificus nymphs and adults from Northern California |
| title_sort | prevalence of rickettsia species phylotype g022 and rickettsia tillamookensis in ixodes pacificus nymphs and adults from northern california |
| topic | Ixodes pacificus Nymphal ticks Rickettsia species phylotype G022 Rickettsia tillamookensis |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877959X25000275 |
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