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. 2022 Aug 20;11(8):946.
doi: 10.3390/pathogens11080946.

Diversity of Tick-Borne Pathogens in Tick Larvae Feeding on Breeding Birds in France

Amalia Rataud  1 , Clemence Galon  2 , Laure Bournez  3 , Pierre-Yves Henry  4   5 , Maud Marsot  1 , Sara Moutailler  2
Affiliations

Diversity of Tick-Borne Pathogens in Tick Larvae Feeding on Breeding Birds in France

Amalia Rataud et al. Pathogens. .

Abstract

Birds play a role in maintaining tick-borne diseases by contributing to the multiplication of ticks and pathogens on a local scale during the breeding season. In the present study, we describe the diversity of tick and pathogen species of medical and veterinary importance in Europe hosted by 1040 captured birds (56 species) during their breeding season in France. Of the 3114 ticks collected, Ixodes ricinus was the most prevalent species (89.5%), followed by I. frontalis (0.8%), I. arboricola (0.7%), Haemaphysalis concinna (0.5%), H. punctata (0.5%), Hyalomma spp. (0.2%), and Rhipicephalus spp. (0.06%). Because they may be representative of the bird infection status for some pathogen species, 1106 engorged tick larvae were screened for pathogens. Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato was the most prevalent pathogen genus in bird-feeding larvae (11.7%), followed by Rickettsia spp. (7.4%), Anaplasma spp. (5.7%), Babesia spp. (2.3%), Ehrlichia spp. (1.4%), and B. miyamotoi (1%). Turdidae birds (Turdus merula and T. philomelos), Troglodytes troglodytes, and Anthus trivialis had a significantly higher prevalence of B. burgdorferi s.l.-infected larvae than other pathogen genera. This suggests that these bird species could act as reservoir hosts for B. burgdorferi s.l. during their breeding season, and thus play an important role in acarological risk.

Keywords: breeding season; tick; tick-borne pathogen; wild bird.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Prevalence among birds according to pathogen genus (A); prevalence according to bird species and sample size, pooling all pathogen genera (B); prevalence for the most prevalent pathogen genera (Bbsl, Rickettsia spp., Anaplasma spp.) according to bird species (C). The number of birds sampled is indicated after the bird species name for Figures (B,C). Bird species are ranked in decreasing order of pathogen prevalence among birds in Figure (B) and from the most frequently to the least frequently sampled bird species in Figure (C).
Figure 1
Figure 1
Prevalence among birds according to pathogen genus (A); prevalence according to bird species and sample size, pooling all pathogen genera (B); prevalence for the most prevalent pathogen genera (Bbsl, Rickettsia spp., Anaplasma spp.) according to bird species (C). The number of birds sampled is indicated after the bird species name for Figures (B,C). Bird species are ranked in decreasing order of pathogen prevalence among birds in Figure (B) and from the most frequently to the least frequently sampled bird species in Figure (C).
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