Long-term persistence of Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Ehrlichia muris in wild rodents

Wild animals are reservoir hosts for a number of tick-transmitted agents, and long-term persistence of the agents is a key factor for their effective transmission from animal hosts to ticks. To study the persistence of Anaplasmataceae in rodents, 59 adult Myodes spp. voles (M. rutilus, M. rufocanus, and M. glareolus) were captured in Omsk Province, Asian Russia, freed from all ectoparasites, and kept in individual cages. Their blood samples were regularly analyzed for the presence of DNA of Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Ehrlichia muris, and "Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis". Anaplasma phagocytophilum, E. muris, and mixed infections were found in 29 (49 %), 17 (29 %), and 14 (24 %) voles, respectively. DNA of "Candidatus N. mikurensis" was not identified. Long-term persistence of A. phagocytophilum and E. muris in naturally infected Myodes spp. was shown for the first time. Thus, 12 animals with A. phagocytophilum were found infected for more than three months and four of them carried the bacterium throughout 22-55 weeks of observation. Four voles were infected with E. muris for 26-40 weeks. Fragments of groESL operon were sequenced for genotyping A. phagocytophilum and E. muris. In voles with A. phagocytophilum, the determined sequences belonged to two phylogenetic clusters. Most sequences were identical or closely related to those found in small mammals and Ixodes trianguliceps ticks from Western Siberia and European countries; one sequence was previously identified in rodents and Ixodes persulcatus and Ixodes pavlovskyi ticks from Asian Russia. Sequences of groESL fragments from E. muris were close to those determined previously in small mammals and I. persulcatus ticks from Siberia. In addition, a new groESL sequence of E. muris was identified in one vole and the sequence substantially differed from all known corresponding E. muris sequences (≥ 14 mismatches).