Author/Editor		Strašek, Katja; Loewenich, Friederike D. von; Petrovec, Miroslav; Avšič-Županc, Tatjana
Title		Diversity of ankA and msp4 genes of Anaplasma phagocytophilum in Slovenia
Type		članek
Vol. and No.		Letnik 6, št. 2
Publication year		2015
Volume		str. 164-166
ISSN		1877-9603 - Ticks and tick-borne diseases
Language		eng
Abstract		Granulocytic anaplasmosis is a tick transmitted emerging disease in Europe and worldwide. The agent, Anaplasma phagocytophilum is transmitted by ticks of the genus Ixodes and causes infections in humans and domestic animals. The analysis of different target genes showed that in nature several genetic variants of A. phagocytophilum were present. The purpose of our study was to genetically characterize A. phagocytophilum strains from eight humans, 16 dogs, 12 wild boars, one bear and 18 tick pools from Slovenia. Therefore, the ankA and msp4 genes of A. phagocytophilum were chosen. The same genetic ankA and msp4 variant of A. phagocytophilum was detected in humans, wild boar and a part of the pooled ticks indicating that it circulates in a zoonotic cycle between wild boar and ticks. In dogs, three ankA variants of A. phagocytophilum were detected. One of them was identical to the one that was found in humans. In contrast, all dogs harboured the same msp4 variant as humans and wild boar. In ticks, numerous ankA and msp4 variants were present.
Keywords		Anaplasma phagocytophilum infections in humans domestic animals Anaplasma phagocytophilum okužbe pri ljudeh domače živali