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 of 103 ticks collected from 23 different bird species caught in the Kızılırmak delta, Samsun province were individually screened for the presence of Bartonella, Borrelia and Rickettsia bacteria by conventional PCR 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 against 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 identified 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 Türkiye. In addition, the presence of Borrelia turdi was recorded for the first time in Türkiye.