First Record of the Tortoise Tick, Amblyomma geoemydae (Cantor, 1847) (Acari: Ixodidae) Parasitizing a Tree Shrew, Tupaia glis (Scandentia: Tupaiidae) in West Malaysia

Molecular characterization of Amblyomma geoemydae using CO1 mitochondrial gene to validate phenotypic taxonomical evaluation

Animal ectoparasites are linked to the spread of serious medical and veterinary important pathogens. Our research intends to close the knowledge gap concerning the numerous ectoparasites that inhabit animals in Wayanad. Ectoparasites in animals brought to the veterinary dispensaries in Wayanad were retrieved and identified morphologically and molecularly. Using a high-quality stereomicroscope, the taxonomic features of the four following species were examined and identified: Haemaphysalis bispinosa, Rhipicephalus annulatus, R. microplus, and Amblyomma geoemydae. The important disease vector A. geoemydae was reported for the first time in Kerala. The important phenotypic characters of the highlighted species A. geoemydae are the edge of the basis capituli is circular without cornua, and the hypostomal dental formula is 2/2. The taxonomically identified four species were subjected to CO1 gene sequence analysis. The evolutionary relationship was inspected through the neighbour-joining method, and the phylogenetic tree was built through the Maximum Likelihood method. The present study has also estimated the diversity index of R. microplus, R. annulatus, H. bispinosa, and A. geoemydae. Among them, R. microplus 0.36638 have reported with the maximum diversity index score. The significance of the study is the presence of Lyme disease vector A. geoemydae, in the Wayanad District of Kerala, and it is the first report of the species from where an outbreak of Lyme disease occurred in 2013.

Metagenomic profile of the bacterial communities associated with Ixodes granulatus (Acari: Ixodidae): a potential vector of tick-borne diseases

Ixodes granulatus Supino, 1897 (Acari: Ixodida) is one of Malaysia's most common hard ticks and is a potential vector for tick-borne diseases (TBDs). Despite its great public health importance, research on I. granulatus microbial communities remains largely unexplored. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the bacterial communities of on-host I. granulatus collected from three different recreational areas on the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia using high throughput Next Generation Sequencing (NGS). A total of 9 females on-host I. granulatus were subjected to metabarcoding analysis targeting V3-V4 regions of 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) using the Illumina MiSeq platform. This study identified 15 bacterial phyla corresponding to 19 classes, 54 orders, and 90 families from 435 amplicon sequence variants (ASVs), revealing a diverse bacterial community profile. Together with 130 genera assigned, local I. granulatus harbored 4 genera of pathogens, i.e., Rickettsia da Rocha Lima, 1916 (Rickettsiales: Rickettsiaceae) (58.6%), Borrelia Swellengrebel 1907 (Spirochaetales: Borreliaceae) (31.6%), Borreliella Adeolu and Gupta 2015 (Spirochaetales: Borreliaceae) (0.6%), and Ehrlichia Cowdria Moshkovski 1947 (Rickettsiales: Ehrlichiaceae) (39.9%). Some endosymbiont bacteria, such as Coxiella (Philip, 1943) (Legionellales: Coxiellaceae), Wolbachia Hertig 1936 (Rickettsiales: Ehrlichiaceae), and Rickettsiella Philip, 1956 (Legionellales: Coxiellaceae), were also detected at very low abundance. Interestingly, this study reported the co-infection of Borrelia and Ehrlichia for the first time, instilling potential health concerns in the context of co-transmission to humans, especially in areas with a high population of I. granulatus. This study successfully characterized the tick microbiome and provided the first baseline data of I. granulatus bacterial communities in Malaysia. These results support the need for way-forward research on tick-associated bacteria using NGS, focusing on medically important species toward TBD prevention.

A checklist of the ticks of Malaysia (Acari: Argasidae, Ixodidae), with lists of known associated hosts, geographical distribution, type localities, human infestations and pathogens

Studies of ticks in Malaysia from past articles were reviewed, resulting in a list of 47 species belonging to seven genera (Argas, Ornithodoros, Amblyomma, Dermacentor, Haemaphysalis, Ixodes, and Rhipicephalus). The most prevalent genus in Malaysia is Haemaphysalis (20 species), followed by Amblyomma (eight species) and Dermacentor (seven species). Out of 47 species, only 28 have bitten humans, mostly belonging to Haemaphysalis. The most researched tick-borne pathogens in Malaysia are Rickettsia and Anaplasma, and most research was focused on the tropical-lineage brown dog ticks, R. sanguineus sensu lato, and the cattle ticks, Haemaphysalis bispinosa and Rhipicephalus microplus. 18 species were excluded from the list due to lack of definite records or dubious findings: Ornithodoros mimon, O. turicata, Amblyomma breviscutatum, A. clypeolatum, A. integrum, A. maculatum, Dermacentor marginatum, D. taiwanensis, Haemaphysalis birmaniae, H. flava, H. humerosa, H. longicornis, H. punctata, H. sulcata, Ixodes holocyclus, Rhipicephalus appendiculatus, R. annulatus and R. bursa. This paper presents the first complete and updated list for Dermacentor and Ixodes tick species in Malaysia since Kohls (1957).