Ticks on wild vertebrates necropsied in a veterinary pathology service in central Brazil: species richness and...

During 2022-2024, fresh carcasses of 35 wild animals from Goiás state and the Federal District, both in central Brazil, were sent to the veterinary pathology service of the University of Brasília. The carcasses were examined for the presence of ticks, which were collected and sent to the laboratory for taxonomic identification. A total of 541 tick specimens were collected from the following host species: birds - Aramides cajaneus and Cariama cristata; mammals - Coendou prehensilis, Didelphis albiventris, Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris, Myrmecophaga tridactyla, Sapajus libidinosus, Subulo gouazoubira and Tapirus terrestris. Nine tick species were identified: Amblyomma brasiliense, Amblyomma dubitatum, Amblyomma longirostre, Amblyomma nodosum, Amblyomma ovale, Amblyomma sculptum, Amblyomma triste, Ixodes loricatus, Rhipicephalus microplus. We report here, for the first time, nymphs of A. dubitatum on A. cajaneus and T. terrestris; as well as the first record of A. brasiliense in the Central-Western region of Brazil. Molecular analyses revealed the presence of the human pathogen Rickettsia parkeri strain Atlantic rainforest in A. ovale, and the following agents of unknown pathogenicity: Rickettsia amblyommatis in A. longirostre; Rickettsia bellii in A. longirostre, A. nodosum and I. loricatus; Rickettsia sp. strain COOPERI in A. nodosum, and 'Candidatus Allocryptoplasma sp.' in A. nodosum.