Bat-associated ticks as a potential link for vector-borne pathogen transmission between bats and other animals

PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2024 Oct 25;18(10):e0012584. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0012584. eCollection 2024 Oct.

Abstract

Background: Potentially zoonotic pathogens have been previously detected in bat-associated ticks, but their role in disease transmission and their frequency of feeding on non-bat hosts is poorly known.

Methodology/principal findings: We used molecular blood meal analysis to reveal feeding patterns of the bat-associated tick species Ixodes ariadnae, I. simplex, and I. vespertilionis collected from cave and mine walls in Central and Southeastern Europe. Vertebrate DNA, predominantly from bats, was detected in 43.5% of the samples (70 of 161 ticks) but in these ticks we also detected the DNA of non-chiropteran hosts, such as dog, Canis lupus familiaris, wild boar, Sus scrofa, and horse, Equus caballus, suggesting that bat-associated ticks may exhibit a much broader host range than previously thought, including domestic and wild mammals. Furthermore, we detected the zoonotic bacteria Neoehrlichia mikurensis in bat ticks for the first time, and other bacteria, such as Bartonella and Wolbachia.

Conclusions/significance: In the light of these findings, the role of bat ticks as disease vectors should be urgently re-evaluated in more diverse host systems, as they may contribute to pathogen transmission between bats and non-chiropteran hosts.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Bartonella / genetics
  • Bartonella / isolation & purification
  • Caves / microbiology
  • Chiroptera* / microbiology
  • Dogs
  • Europe
  • Feeding Behavior
  • Horses
  • Ixodes / microbiology
  • Sus scrofa / parasitology
  • Tick-Borne Diseases / microbiology
  • Tick-Borne Diseases / transmission

Grants and funding

TS was supported by the SNSF (Swiss National Science Foundation, P500PB_206888, www.snf.ch) and the EWDA (2021 Small Grant/Grant for Wildlife Health Research and Education in Eastern Europe, European Wildlife Disease Association, www.ewda.org). ÁP was supported by the Hungarian National Research, Development and Innovation Office (PD 143382, nkfih.gov.hu). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.