Examining the relationship between ticks, tick-borne pathogens and wild ungulate abundance: a cas study of protected areas in Northern Italy - Designing and initial testing of a new (dd)PCR assay

Abstract

Tick borne pathogens (TBPs) pose a huge threat to human and public health. With the increasing number of ticks and their expanding geographical range, it is becoming more and more important to get a grip on the prevalence of the pathogens they carry to limit the spread to the human population. Ticks are most abundant in forests and meadow areas, where wild ungulates can serve as hosts for both ticks and their TBPs. However, the exact role of these wild ungulates in maintaining both ticks and the TBPs remains unclear. Through the development of a quadruplex droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR) assay, our objective is to simultaneously identify the presence of the four most common TBPs in Europe – A. phagocytophilum, B. burgdorferi senu latu (s.l.), B. venatorum and Rickettsia spotted fever group (SFG) – in tick populations in Northern Italy. By integrating the collected TBP prevalence data with population density estimations for wild ungulates in this region, we aim to detect the correlation between the pathogen prevalence and the wild ungulate abundance. With this study we aim to provide more insight into the association of the wild ungulate population with TBP prevalence, thereby contributing to future measures to combat the public health threat posed ticks and TPBs.