Possible Association between Selected Tick-Borne Pathogen Prevalence and Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato Infestation in Dogs from Juarez City (Chihuahua), Northwest Mexico–US Border

Abstract

Tick-borne bacterial pathogens (TBBPs) show a worldwide distribution and represent a great impact on public health. The brown dog tick (<i>Rhipicephalus sanguineus</i>) is a vector of several pathogens that affect dogs and sometimes humans as well. In addition, TBBPs represent a diagnostic challenge and imply financial resources and medical treatment for long periods of time. In the present study, <i>R. sanguineus</i> s. l. was identified as the main tick species naturally parasitizing dogs that inhabit. Juárez City, Chihuahua, in the Paso del Norte region, Mexico-US Border, representing 99.8% of the cases. Additionally, an end-point PCR was performed to search for whether pathogens in <i>R. sanguineus</i> s. l. can transmit in DNA extracted from ticks and dog blood samples. This is the first molecular detection of <i>Rickettsia rickettsi</i> infecting domestic dogs in Mexico; however, other pathogens were also identified, such as <i>Ehrlichia canis</i> and <i>Anaplasma platys</i> in both ticks and dog blood samples, while <i>Anaplasma phagocytophilum</i> was identified only in dog blood samples. Moreover, co-detection in tick pools and co-infection in the analyzed dog blood samples could be found. Similarly, this research showed that dogs were found mostly parasitized by adult female ticks, increasing the possibility of transmission of <i>E. canis</i>.