TITLE:
Zoonotic Pathogens in Ticks Collected from Livestock in Kenya
AUTHORS:
Mishael Oswe, Rose Odhiambo, Beth Mutai, Nancy Nyakoe, George Awinda, John N. Waitumbi
KEYWORDS:
Zoonosis, Borrelia, Babesia, Anaplasma, Coxiella
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Preventive Medicine,
Vol.8 No.8,
August
24,
2018
ABSTRACT: Ticks are reservoirs of a variety of pathogens including bacteria, viruses and protozoa. We used PCR to detect pathogens of public health importance in ticks collected from diverse regions of Kenya. 503 tick pools were collected from 982 cattle, 300 sheep and 379 goats that were presented for slaughter at major abattoirs in Nairobi and Mombasa. Tick DNA was screened by qPCR optimized for single-plex detection of Babesia microti, two-plex Coxiella burnetii/Ehrlichia chaffeensis or Bartonella henselae/Borrelia recurrentis or three-plex for the non-human Babesia spp/Anaplasma phagocytophylum/Borrelia burgdorferi. Pathogen prevalence was calculated against tick type and the geographical origin. Computational analysis was performed with Graphpad prism 5. Out of 503 tick analyzed, 21% (106) were positive for at least one pathogen. C. burnetii was the most abundant at 70% (74/106), followed by non-human Babesia at 17% (18/106), 5% (5/106) for B. burgdorferi, 7% (7/106) for other Borrelia species and