Culturable pathogenic bacteria in ticks parasitizing farm animals and rodents in Malaysia

Area of Science:

• Veterinary Microbiology
• Public Health Entomology
• Bacteriology

Background:

• Ticks transmit numerous serious diseases to humans and animals.
• Tick-borne pathogens are often intracellular microorganisms.
• Limited knowledge exists on culturable pathogenic bacteria in ticks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the prevalence of culturable pathogenic bacteria in ticks from Peninsular Malaysia.
• To identify bacteria that can grow on artificial media, beyond known intracellular pathogens.

Main Methods:

• Collected 147 ticks from dairy cattle, goats, and rodents across nine sites in Peninsular Malaysia.
• Surface-sterilized tick homogenates were cultured on artificial nutrient media.
• Identified isolated bacterial species using standard microbiological techniques.

Main Results:

• Isolated various pathogenic bacteria including Staphylococcus sp., Corynebacterium sp., Rothia sp., Enterococcus faecalis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, and Bacillus sp.
• These identified bacteria are known to affect both humans and animals.
• Demonstrated the presence of culturable, potentially extracellular, pathogenic bacteria in ticks.

Conclusions:

• Ticks in Peninsular Malaysia harbor a range of culturable pathogenic bacteria.
• Findings suggest ticks may serve as vectors for extracellular pathogens in addition to intracellular ones.
• Further research is required to ascertain the role of these extracellular bacteria in disease transmission to humans and animals.