Molecular Survey of Five Tick-Borne Pathogens ( Ehrlichia chaffeensis , Ehrlichia ewingii , Anaplasma phagocytophilum , Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato and Babesia microti ) in Egyptian Farmers

摘要

The close proximity of people with animal reservoir hosts and tick vectors constitutes a risk factorfor the transmission of tick-borne zoonoses; therefore, farmers are at high risk. This study was intended todetermine the occurrence of five tick-borne pathogens (Ehrlichia chaffeensis, Ehrlichia ewingii, Anaplasmaphagocytophilum, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato and Babesia microti) in Egyptian farmers. To execute thisobjective, a total of 67 EDTA-whole blood samples were collected from farmers residing villages of Nile Delta.Extracted DNA was used in nested PCR reactions targeting rRNA gene of E. chaffeensis, E. ewingii and B.microti. Detection of A. phagocytophilum and B. burgdorferi sensu lato was performed in standard PCRamplifications with specific primers for rRNA and ospA gene, respectively. All samples tested negative for E.chaffeensis, E. ewingii and B. microti. Five (7.5%) persons showed evidence of A. phagocytophilum infection,while DNA of B. burgdorferi was detected in 2 (3%) samples. One (1.5%) of the tested farmers was concurrentlyinfected with both A. phagocytophilum and B. burgdorferi sensu lato at the same time. This report is the firstmolecular evidence of B. burgdorferi sensu lato and its coinfection with A. phagocytophilum in the country.