Publikationsdatenbank

Uptake and fecal excretion of Coxiella burnetii by Ixodes ricinus and Dermacentor marginatus ticks (2020)

Art

Zeitschriftenartikel / wissenschaftlicher Beitrag

Autoren

Körner, Sophia

Makert, Gustavo R.

Mertens-Scholz, Katja

Henning, Klaus

Pfeffer, Martin

Starke, Alexander

Nijhof, Ard M. (WE 13)

Ulbert, Sebastian

Forschungsprojekt

Entwicklung neuer Methoden zur Erforschung der zoonotischen Vektorbiologie von Ixodes ricinus mittels CRISPR-Technologie und künstlicher Schildzeckenfütterung

Quelle

Parasites & vectors

Bandzählung: 13

Seiten: Article number: 75

ISSN: 1756-3305

Sprache

Englisch

Verweise

URL (Volltext): https://parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13071-020-3956-z

DOI: 10.1186/s13071-020-3956-z

Pubmed: 32059686

Kontakt

Institut für Parasitologie und Tropenveterinärmedizin

Robert-von-Ostertag-Str. 7-13
14163 Berlin
+49 30 838 62310
parasitologie@vetmed.fu-berlin.de

Abstract / Zusammenfassung

Background
The bacterium Coxiella burnetii is the etiological agent of Q fever and is mainly transmitted via inhalation of infectious aerosols. DNA of C. burnetii is frequently detected in ticks, but the role of ticks as vectors in the epidemiology of this agent is still controversial. In this study, Ixodes ricinus and Dermacentor marginatus adults as well as I. ricinus nymphs were fed on blood spiked with C. burnetii in order to study the fate of the bacterium within putative tick vectors.

Methods
Blood-feeding experiments were performed in vitro in silicone-membrane based feeding units. The uptake, fecal excretion and transstadial transmission of C. burnetii was examined by quantitative real-time PCR as well as cultivation of feces and crushed tick filtrates in L-929 mouse fibroblast cells and cell-free culture medium.

Results
Ticks successfully fed in the feeding system with engorgement rates ranging from 29% (D. marginatus) to 64% (I. ricinus adults). Coxiella burnetii DNA was detected in the feces of both tick species during and after feeding on blood containing 105 or 106 genomic equivalents per ml blood (GE/ml), but not when fed on blood containing only 104 GE/ml. Isolation and cultivation demonstrated the infectivity of C. burnetii in shed feces. In 25% of the I. ricinus nymphs feeding on inoculated blood, a transstadial transmission to the adult stage was detected. Females that molted from nymphs fed on inoculated blood excreted C. burnetii of up to 106 genomic equivalents per mg of feces.

Conclusions
These findings show that transstadial transmission of C. burnetii occurs in I. ricinus and confirm that I. ricinus is a potential vector for Q fever. Transmission from both tick species might occur by inhalation of feces containing high amounts of viable C. burnetii rather than via tick bites.