Identification ofspp. andinspp. Collected from Dogs and Cats Across the United States.

Abstract

In the United States,andare considered key vectors for, the causative agent of Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Through regional surveillance, a wide diversity ofspp. have been documented in, andspp. has been suggested as potential vectors for various other pathogens, includingspp. and. To better define the prevalence and diversity of pathogens inspp. across the United States, 848 ticks collected from dogs and cats in 44/50 states in 2018-2019 were tested by PCR forspp.-specific 17 kDa and ompA gene fragments; a subset ofspp. was also tested with PCR, targeting fragments of the 18S and large subunit region rRNA genes ofspp. and 16S rRNA genes of.spp. was identified in 12.5% (106/848) of ticks. Species detected include( = 64 ticks),( = 15 ticks),( = 13 ticks),( = 8 ticks),( = 3 ticks),( = 1 tick), and unclassifiedspp. ( = 2 ticks). Ticks withandwere submitted from every U.S. region;was predominantly detected in ticks from the southern half of the United States, and all-positive ticks werethat originated from the Rocky Mountain states.was not detected in anyspp., andwas detected in two. Because most ticks had fed on dogs or cats before submission, these findings do not implicate a givensp. as a primary vector of these agents, but in regard tospp., the data do support other published work showingharbors a diversity ofspecies with unknown implications for animal and human health.