Field investigation reveals widespread coinfection with diverse tick-borne pathogens in wild hedgehogs and ticks, highlighting potential zoonotic transmission risks to humans.
In the present study, we found the following. (i) Er. amurensis hedgehogs seem to contribute to the natural cycles of R. japonica , A. bovis , Ehrlichia sp., and C. burnetii and may be reservoirs of them except for R. japonica , and A. bovis is proved to infect hedgehogs for the first time. (ii) H. flava is proved to harbor various tickborne pathogens (TBPs) as a reservoir host, including Coxiella -like endosymbiont (CLE) identified for the first time, which could inhibit coinfection of C. burnetii while promoting that of Rickettsia spp. in H. flava. (iii) Four novel TBP species were identified. This study provides useful epidemiological information on TBPs harbored and transmitted by ticks and their hosts, for assessing the potential infection risks to humans, thus benefiting the developing strategies for tick-borne diseases prevention and control.
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Qi et al. (2022) studied this question.
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