Anaplasma species detected in Haemaphysalis longicornis tick from China

Anaplasma are tick-borne obligatory intracellular bacteria, which infect humans and other animals. The Anaplasma species carried by ticks in China are not well studied. We collected 3145 questing Haemaphysalis longicornis ticks including 120 larvae, 2460 nymphs and 565 adults from vegetation in Jiaonan County, Shandong Province, China from 2013 to 2015. All ticks were examined for the presence of Anaplasma species by nested PCR amplification of the 16S rRNA gene. For further differentiation of A. capra from A. centrale, gltA and msp2 genes were sequenced for A. capra. Three Anaplasma species were detected in the nymph and/or adult ticks with the minimum infection rate of ticks as follows: 1.55% for A. bovis, 0.10% for A. phagocytophilum, and 0.03% for A. capra. These results indicated that the H. longicornis tick in Jiaonan County carried multiple Anaplasma species, which may be a challenge for public health in the studying area.