Vector-borne infections in free ranging red deer (Cervus Elaphus) during the winter season in Norway

Many emerging infectious diseases are of wildlife origin, are vector-borne, and present a growing health concern for both humans and livestock. Wild cervids are essential hosts for maintaining Ixodes ticks and deer keds and consequently, infection diseases vectored by these ectoparasites. The red deer is widely distributed game species in Europe, including Norway. The geographical and spatial distributions of some European vectors have been changing in recent decades. Expansion of vectors can affect the spread of related vector-borne pathogens such as Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Babesia spp. and Bartonella spp. In the present study, the presence and prevalence of these vector-borne pathogens in red deer were investigated during the winter season. Blood samples were analysed from 38 free-ranging adult red deer that had been chemically immobilised in January and February 2014–2016 in the counties of Telemark and Agder in Norway. The overall prevalence of A. phagocytophilum and Babesia spp. in the examined animals was 31.6 % and 47.4 % respectively. Bartonella DNA was detected in 53.3% of red deer. Seven animals were co-infected with two pathogens and four animals had triple infections. Sequence analysis revealed the presence of two Babesia species: B. divergens and B. odocoilei. The Bartonella strains were closely related to B. bovis and the clade associated with B. schoenbuchensis, B. chomelii and B. capreoli. Seven msp4 sequence variants of A. phagocytophilum were identified. Detection of Anaplasma, Babesia and Bartonella DNA in red deer during the winter season, when ticks, deer keds and other blood-sucking arthropods are inactive, demonstrated the presence of persistent vectorborne infections in this animal hostBiologijos katedraVytauto Didžiojo universiteta