Investigation of Bartonella, Borrelia and Rickettsia in hard ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) collected from birds in Kızılırmak Delta, Türkiye

Ticks are external parasites that can blood-feed from many species of mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians. As carriers and vectors of a wide variety of pathogens, including bacteria, protozoa and viruses, ticks may transmit pathogenic organisms from infected hosts to humans and other animals. Migratory birds, in particular, play an important role in the spread of ticks and tick-borne pathogens. Within the scope of this study, a total o f 103 ticks collected from 23 different bird species caught in the K & imath;z & imath;l & imath;rmak delta, Samsun province were individually screened for the presence of Bartonella, Borrelia and Rickettsia bacteria by conventional PC R method targeting NADH dehydrogenase gamma subunit (nuoG), flagellin B (flaB) and citrate synthase (gltA ) genes, respectively. Positive PCR products were bidirectionally sequenced and analyzed using BLASTn agains t the NCBI database, and the following results were obtained: Borrelia turdi and Bartonella grahamii were detected in Ixodes frontalis; Bartonella henselae was found in Haemaphysalis concinna, Haemaphysalis punctata, Hyalomma marginatum, Ixodes frontalis, and Ixodes ricinus; Rickettsia aeschlimannii was identifie d in Hyalomma marginatum; and Rickettsia helvetica was detected in Ixodes ricinus and Ixodes sp. In this study, the presence of Bartonella and Rickettsia spp. was detected for the first time in related ticks collected from the passerines in T & uuml;rkiye. In addition, the presence of Borrelia turdi was recorded for the first time in T & uuml;rkiye.