Ixodid and flea infestations and associated bacteria on two sympatric felid species in South Texas

Ixodid ticks and fleas parasitize wild felids and can transmit pathogens of veterinary and public health concern. We identified ixodid and flea species collected from sympatric South Texas bobcats, L. rufus, and ocelots, L. pardalis. Greater diversities of ixodids were found on both felids than in previous reports, with seven species in three genera on L. rufus and six species in three genera on L. pardalis. We report first findings of tropical horse tick, Dermacentor nitens, on L. rufus in Texas, and Ixodes keiransi on both felids in Texas. Although false cayenne tick, Amblyomma tenellum, nymphs were the most abundant ixodids on L. pardalis, this is the first record from that host in the United States. Regarding fleas, the felids were predominantly (>99 %) infested with peccary fleas, Pulex porcinus. One cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis, was found on L. pardalis; the first from that felid species in Texas. Molecular analyses detected Anaplasma spp., Ehrlichia spp., Borrelia spp., and Rickettsia spp. bacteria in ixodids collected from the felids. Although members of each bacterial group were in some ixodids on both felid species, the American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis, on L. rufus, and the plain amblyomma, Amblyomma inornatum, on L. pardalis, were particularly prone to harboring Anaplasmataceae and Rickettsia spp. bacteria, respectively. While some of the bacteria might be pathogenic to vertebrates, many are likely endosymbionts, and our findings suggest that both felid species currently face a low risk of clinical tick-borne disease. These results have important implications for public and veterinary health in the U.S.-Mexico border region, where expanding tick distributions, climate-driven habitat shifts, and increasing human-wildlife interface heighten the potential for pathogen spillover.