Parasitology

Biography

Biography: Una Ryan

Abstract

Statement of the Problem: In Australia, a conclusive aetiology of Lyme disease-like illness in human patients remains elusive, despite growing numbers of people presenting with symptoms attributed to tick bites. This undetermined disease usually presents as acute flu-like symptoms including headache, fever, and fatigue that can persist for weeks to months, and may develop into a severe chronic illness that can include, but is not limited to, myalgia, arthralgia, chronic migraine, and a systemic inflammatory syndrome. Despite this, little has been documented about microorganisms harboured within Australian native ticks or their pathogenic potential. Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: Universal PCR primers were used to amplify the V1-2 hyper-variable region of bacterial 16S rRNA genes in DNA samples from human-biting ticks and ticks from wildlife. The 16S amplicons were sequenced on the Illumina MiSeq platform and analysed in USEARCH, QIIME, and BLAST to assign genus and species-level taxonomies. Nested PCR and Sanger sequencing were used to confirm the NGS data and further analyse novel findings. Findings: NGS of 16S rDNA amplicons has identified five novel bacterial species in ticks including; an Anaplasma sp., an Ehrlichia sp., two ‘Ca. Neoehrlichia’ species, and a novel Borrelia species, which is divergent from B. burgdorferi s.l and Relapsing Fever (Fig. 1). Conclusion & Significance: Determining whether these newly discovered organisms cause disease in humans and animals, like closely related bacteria do abroad, is of public health importance and requires further investigation.