Ticks From Mink and Their Associated Microorganisms in Spain

Wildlife is an important source of emerging zoonotic agents, including tick-borne ones. Wild carnivores such as mink are commonly parasitized by ticks, which are vectors and reservoirs of zoonotic diseases. Besides the importance of these arthropods as potential sources of diseases in mink, and the role of these mammals as reservoirs of infectious diseases, scarce studies of microorganisms of ticks from mink have been performed. In the present work, ticks collected from mink (European mink [Mustela lutreola] and American mink [Neogale vison]) from 2007 to 2021 in the North of Spain, and their associated microorganisms (bacteria, protozoan, and viruses), were studied. A total of 916 specimens (154 Ixodes acuminatus, 761 Ixodes hexagonus, and one Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato) were processed in 165 pools (31 I. acuminatus, 133 I. hexagonus, and one R. sanguineus s.l.). The microorganisms detected in I. acuminatus pools were Ehrlichia sp. (8), Neoehrlichia mikurensis (4), Coxiella spp. (23), Rickettsiella spp. (7), and Ixovirus spp. (3). In I. hexagonus pools, Coxiella spp. (131), Rickettsiella spp. (5), Hepatozoon martis (5), and Ixovirus spp. (6) were amplified. Infection with Coxiella spp. was found in the R. sanguineus s.l. specimen. Mink are involved in the epidemiology of tick-borne microorganisms, including important pathogens. The role of these tick species as vectors and mink as reservoirs of these microorganisms should be further investigated.