Molecular detection of apicomplexan protozoa in Hokkaido brown bears ( Ursus arctos yesoensis ) and Japanese black bears
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PROTOZOOLOGY - ORIGINAL PAPER
Molecular detection of apicomplexan protozoa in Hokkaido brown bears (Ursus arctos yesoensis) and Japanese black bears (Ursus thibetanus japonicus) Mohamed Abdallah Mohamed Moustafa 1,2 & Ayaka Sasaki 3 & Michito Shimozuru 3 & Ryo Nakao 1 & Mariko Sashika 3 & Koji Yamazaki 4 & Shinsuke Koike 5,6 & Junpei Tanaka 7 & Hiroo Tamatani 7 & Masami Yamanaka 8 & Tsuyoshi Ishinazaka 8 & Toshio Tsubota 3 Received: 7 April 2020 / Accepted: 30 August 2020 / Published online: 1 October 2020 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Many tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) are present in wildlife. The objective of this study is to reveal the role of wild bears in maintaining TBPs. A total of 49 brown bears (Ursus arctos yesoensis) from Hokkaido, and 18 Japanese black bears (Ursus thibetanus japonicus) from Tochigi, and 66 Japanese black bears from Nagano were examined by two molecular methods, reverse line blot (RLB) hybridization, and nested PCR. A total of 5 TBPs (Hepatozoon ursi, Babesia sp. UR2-like group, Cytauxzoon sp. UR1, Babesia sp. UR1, and Babesia microti) were detected from bear blood DNA samples. B. microti was detected from blood DNA samples of Japanese black bear for the first time, with the prevalence of 6.0% (5/84). Out of detected pathogens, H. ursi, Babesia sp. UR2-like pathogens, and Cytauxzoon sp. UR1 were considered as three of the most prevalent TBPs in bears. The prevalence of H. ursi were significantly higher in Japanese black bear (0% vs 96.4%) while that of Babesia sp. UR2-like group was higher in Hokkaido brown bears (89.8% vs 40.5%). The prevalence of Babesia sp. UR1 were significantly higher in Japanese black bears from Tochigi (44.4%), comparing with those from Nagano (18.2%). The prevalence of the detected TBPs were significantly higher in adult bears, comparing with those in younger bears. The present study suggests that Japanese bear species contribute in the transmission of several TBPs in Japan. The expanding distribution of bears might cause the accidental transmission of TBPs to humans and domestic animals. Keywords Bears . RLB . Apicomplexan protozoa . Babesia microti . Cytauxzoon
Introduction Ticks are important arthropod vectors that transmit a variety of pathogens, such as viruses, bacteria, and protozoans (Estrada-
Pena and Jongejan 1999). The incidence of tick-borne diseases (TBDs) is increasing worldwide by several factors (de la Fuente and Estrada-Pena2012), including the developed diagnostic tool, the global climate change, and the habitat expansion of
Mohamed Abdallah Mohamed Moustafa and Ayaka Sasaki contributed equally to this work. Section Editor: Leonhard Schnittger * Toshio Tsubota [email protected] 1
Laboratory of Parasitology, Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
2
Department of Animal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, South Valley University, Qena, Egypt
3
Laboratory of Wildlife Biology and Medicine, Department of Environmental Veterinary Sciences, Gr
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