First Report of Ixodes nipponensis Infection in Goats in China.

Abstract

Ticks are obligate blood-sucking ectoparasites that infect a wide range of animals and humans, causing a variety of both human and animal diseases around the world. Ixodes nipponensis is the most commonly reported tick in Korea and Japan, but it is very rare in China. In this study, six I. nipponensis samples were collected from three black goats in Hunan province, China. Ticks identified morphologically as I. nipponensis were then examined by PCR with two different molecular markers: mitochondrial cox1 and the second internal transcribed spacer of ribosomal DNA genes. Sequence comparison and phylogenetic analysis of the cox1 sequences confirmed that all of the examined hard Ixodes ticks represented I. nipponensis. This finding indicates a potential risk of zoonotic I. nipponensis infection in humans and animals in China. To our knowledge, this is the first report documenting the occurrence of I. nipponensis infection in goats in China.