The New Haplotypes of Bartonella spp. and Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Lato Identified in Lipoptena spp. (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) Collected in the Areas of North-Eastern Poland

Commercial products are not effective at repelling European deer keds, Lipoptena cervi (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) but may increase mortality after exposure

European deer keds, Lipoptena cervi (Linnaeus, 1758), are hematophagous ectoparasitic flies known to bite cervids and noncervids, including humans. To prevent deer keds from landing and biting hosts, 5 commercially available insect repellents (DEET, IR3535, oil of lemon eucalyptus (OLE), picaridin, and permethrin) and water control were evaluated to determine repellency efficacy and postexposure mortality of deer keds. While there was a significant difference between the groups tested, a post hoc analysis revealed that no treatment was significantly different from the water control. Deer ked survival was different amongst the treatments, with deer keds exposed to permethrin dying much sooner than those exposed to other treatments or control (median survival for permethrin = 0.58 h). Post-hoc pairwise comparisons revealed that deer keds exposed to DEET or IR3535 had similar survival rates (4.82 and 5.15 h, respectively). Still, there were significantly lower survival times for DEET compared to OLE (6.33 h) and picaridin (15.00 h). Deer keds exposed to the water control survived the longest (23.12 h). Overall, deer ked repellency was not significantly different from the control, but permethrin-treated clothes can effectively kill deer keds in a short amount of time, thereby protecting those who recreate outdoors or encounter animals carrying deer keds.

Diversity of Anaplasma and novel Bartonella species in Lipoptena fortisetosa collected from captive Eld's deer in Thailand

Lipoptena insects are important ectoparasites of cervids and may affect humans that are incidentally bitten. The presence of zoonotic pathogen DNA, such as Anaplasma, and Bartonella, raises the importance of Lipoptena insects in veterinary and human medicine. Eld's deer (Rucervus eldii thamin), an endangered wild ruminant in Thailand, are bred and raised in the open zoo. The semi-wild zoo environment suggests ectoparasite infestation and potential risk for mechanical transmission of pathogens to visitors, zoo workers, or other animals. However, epidemiology knowledge of pathogens related to endangered wild ruminants in Thailand is limited. This study aims to determine the prevalence and diversity of Anaplasma and Bartonella in the L. fortisetosa collected from captive Eld's deer in Chon Buri, Thailand. Of the 91 Lipoptena DNA samples obtained, 42 (46.15%) and 25 (27.47%) were positive for Anaplasma and Bartonella by molecular detection, respectively. Further, 42 sequences of Anaplasma (4 nucleotide sequence types) showed 100% identity to those detected in other ruminants and blood-sucking ectoparasites. Twenty-five sequences of Bartonella (8 nucleotide sequence types) showed 97.35-99.11% identity to the novel Bartonella species from sika deer and keds in Japan. Phylogenetic trees revealed Anaplasma sequences were grouped with the clusters of A. bovis and other ruminant-related Anaplasma, while Bartonella sequences were clustered with the novel Bartonella species lineages C, D, and E, which originated from Japan. Interestingly, a new independent lineage of novel Bartonella species was found in obtained specimens. We report the first molecular detection of Anaplasma and Bartonella on L. fortisetosa, which could represent infectious status of captive Eld's deer in the zoo. Wild animals act as reservoirs for many pathogens, thus preventive measures in surrounding areas should be considered to prevent pathogen infection among animals or potential zoonotic infection among humans.