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Cajal\u201d postdoctoral fellowship","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["IPC\/ES\/000001"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["IPC\/ES\/000001"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004837","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004837","name":"\u201cRam\u00f3n y. Cajal\u201d postdoctoral fellowship","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["EFA100\/01"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["EFA100\/01"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004837","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004837","name":"\u201cRam\u00f3n y. Cajal\u201d postdoctoral fellowship","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["POCTEFA 2021\u20132027"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["POCTEFA 2021\u20132027"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004837","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004837","name":"\u201cRam\u00f3n y. Cajal\u201d postdoctoral fellowship","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["RYC2021-033084-I"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RYC2021-033084-I"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004837","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Department of Economic Development, Sustainability and Environment of the Basque Government","award":["IPC\/ES\/000001"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["IPC\/ES\/000001"]}]},{"name":"Department of Economic Development, Sustainability and Environment of the Basque Government","award":["EFA100\/01"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["EFA100\/01"]}]},{"name":"Department of Economic Development, Sustainability and Environment of the Basque Government","award":["POCTEFA 2021\u20132027"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["POCTEFA 2021\u20132027"]}]},{"name":"Department of Economic Development, Sustainability and Environment of the Basque Government","award":["RYC2021-033084-I"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RYC2021-033084-I"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pathogens"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Hard ticks are vectors of a wide range of pathogens, with tick-borne bacteria being among the most frequently detected. This study presents a first approach to the identification of human-biting ticks in the Basque Country (northern Iberian Peninsula), where previous research has mainly focused on ticks from vegetation and domestic and wild animals. The aim of this study was (i) to identify tick species collected in hospitals and health centres and (ii) to determine the presence and identify of pathogenic bacteria that they may carry using PCR, RLB and sequencing methods. A total of 181 ticks were collected and grouped in pools of one, two or three specimens, resulting in 157 samples. Morphological and molecular identification of collected ticks revealed that most specimens belonged to Ixodes ricinus (88.5%). Additionally, Rhipicephalus bursa, Haemaphysalis punctata, Dermacentor reticulatus and Dermacentor marginatus were also identified. A total of 25 samples (15.9%) tested positive for DNA from the targeted pathogens. The most prevalent vector-borne bacteria were Borrelia spp. (6.4%), followed by Rickettsia spp. (5.1%), Anaplasma phagocytophilum (2.5%) and Coxiella spp. (1.9%). Species identified included B. afzelii, B. garinii, B. miyamotoi, B. valaisiana, B. burgdorferi s. s., R. monacensis, \u201cCandidatus R. rioja\u201d, R. helvetica and R. massiliae. This study highlights the usefulness of combining molecular diagnostics with passive surveillance of human-attached ticks as an effective tool for regional monitoring of ticks and tick-borne pathogens.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/pathogens14060561","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,4]],"date-time":"2025-06-04T11:14:12Z","timestamp":1749035652000},"page":"561","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Tick Species Identification and Zoonotic Bacteria Detection from Healthcare-Extracted Specimens from Humans in the Basque Country, Northern Iberian Peninsula"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-5889-6193","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Patirke","family":"Ibarrondo-Mendiola","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Animal Health, NEIKER\u2014Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development, Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), 48160 Derio, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4582-202X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Patricia","family":"V\u00e1zquez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Animal Health, NEIKER\u2014Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development, Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), 48160 Derio, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Miriam","family":"Alkorta","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology, Donostia University Hospital, 20014 Donostia-San Sebasti\u00e1n, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Cristina","family":"Zugazaga","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology, Basurto University Hospital, 48013 Bilbao, Spain"},{"name":"BioCruces Health Research Institute, 48903 Barakaldo, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7404-1380","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ana L.","family":"Garc\u00eda-P\u00e9rez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Animal Health, NEIKER\u2014Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development, Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), 48160 Derio, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3346-195X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jes\u00fas F.","family":"Barandika","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Animal Health, NEIKER\u2014Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development, Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), 48160 Derio, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1874-6399","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Aitor","family":"Cevidanes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Animal Health, NEIKER\u2014Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development, Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), 48160 Derio, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Nicholson, W.L., Sonenshine, D.E., Noden, B.H., and Brown, R.N. 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