{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,11]],"date-time":"2026-03-11T21:02:43Z","timestamp":1773262963969,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,7]],"date-time":"2026-01-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1767744000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Nature Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["82361148725"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["82361148725"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Youth Fund for Enhancing Capability of Infectious Disease Surveillance and Prevention","award":["102393240020020000003"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["102393240020020000003"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["TropicalMed"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Haemaphysalis qinghaiensis is an endemic tick species distributed in the western plateau areas of China. Although they are three-host ticks, infesting multiple animals (including humans), the occurrence of various tick-borne agents has barely been investigated. In this study, we collected 136 H. qinghaiensis specimens from sheep and goats in Menyuan County in Qinghai Province, northwest China. The Brucella, Coxiella, and Theileria\/Babesia species\u2019 DNA were detected by nested or hemi-nested PCR and further identified by amplifying their key genes. Brucella abortus and B. melitensis DNA were detected, with positive rates of 3.68% and 4.41%, respectively. This may be the first report that suggests that H. qinghaiensis harbors Brucella spp., the agents of human brucellosis. The Coxiella endosymbiont of Haemaphysalis qinghaiensis, a non-pathogenic Coxiella, was identified with an extremely high positive rate of 97.06%. In addition, two Theileria species, Theileria luwenshuni (75.00%) and Theileria uilenbergi (16.18%), were detected. Our results suggest the circulation of Brucella spp. and Theileria spp. in goats and sheep in the study area. Whether H. qinghaiensis ticks play a role in the maintenance and transmission of these agents has yet to be determined. Due to their human pathogenicity and their high positive rates in ticks, surveillance in local populations with relative symptoms is necessary.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/tropicalmed11010017","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,7]],"date-time":"2026-01-07T08:26:56Z","timestamp":1767774416000},"page":"17","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Brucella, Coxiella, and Theileria Species DNA in Haemaphysalis qinghaiensis Ticks Collected from Goats and Sheep in Qinghai Province, Northwest China"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Kun","family":"Li","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracing and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Changping District, Beijing 102206, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xuxin","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Qinghai Institute for Endemic Disease Prevention and Control, Xining 810021, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jianling","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Qinghai Institute for Endemic Disease Prevention and Control, Xining 810021, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Shengyu","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Qinghai Institute for Endemic Disease Prevention and Control, Xining 810021, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xu","family":"Zhao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracing and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Changping District, Beijing 102206, China"},{"name":"Daxing Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Daxing District, Beijing 102600, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Shengjun","family":"Cai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Menyuan Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Haibei Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture 810399, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Leyu","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracing and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Changping District, Beijing 102206, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Guoqiang","family":"An","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Menyuan Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Haibei Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture 810399, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Hongyan","family":"Zhao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracing and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Changping District, Beijing 102206, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Dongri","family":"Piao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracing and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Changping District, Beijing 102206, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Qingqing","family":"Xu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracing and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Changping District, Beijing 102206, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yu","family":"Fan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracing and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Changping District, Beijing 102206, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jiquan","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Qinghai Institute for Endemic Disease Prevention and Control, Xining 810021, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Hai","family":"Jiang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracing and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Changping District, Beijing 102206, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"311","DOI":"10.1007\/s10493-009-9246-2","article-title":"Comments on controversial tick (Acari: Ixodida) species names and species described or resurrected from 2003 to 2008","volume":"48","author":"Guglielmone","year":"2009","journal-title":"Exp. Appl. Acarol."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"102402","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ttbdis.2024.102402","article-title":"Pathogens transmitted by Ixodes ricinus","volume":"15","author":"Gray","year":"2024","journal-title":"Ticks Tick Borne Dis."},{"key":"ref_3","first-page":"6938","article-title":"Overview: Ticks as vectors of pathogens that cause disease in humans and animals","volume":"13","author":"Venzal","year":"2008","journal-title":"Front. Biosci."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"105409","DOI":"10.1016\/j.meegid.2023.105409","article-title":"De novo assembled transcriptomics assisted label-free quantitative proteomics analysis reveals sex-specific proteins in the intestinal tissue of Haemaphysalis qinghaiensis","volume":"109","author":"Ma","year":"2023","journal-title":"Infect. Genet. Evol."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Lu, M., Tian, J., Zhao, H., Jiang, H., Qin, X., Wang, W., and Li, K. (2022). Molecular survey of vector-borne pathogens in ticks, sheep keds, and domestic animals from Ngawa, Southwest China. Pathogens, 11.","DOI":"10.3390\/pathogens11050606"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"146","DOI":"10.1186\/s13071-016-1423-7","article-title":"Novel spotted fever group rickettsiae in Haemaphysalis qinghaiensis ticks from Gansu, Northwest China","volume":"9","author":"Yang","year":"2016","journal-title":"Parasit. Vectors"},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"107","DOI":"10.1007\/s10493-008-9133-2","article-title":"Investigations into the natural infection rate of Haemaphysalis qinghaiensis with piroplasma using a nested PCR","volume":"44","author":"Sun","year":"2008","journal-title":"Exp. Appl. Acarol."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"29","DOI":"10.1016\/S0304-4017(02)00096-1","article-title":"Haemaphysalis qinghaiensis ticks transmit at least two different Theileria species: One is infective to yaks, one is infective to sheep","volume":"107","author":"Yin","year":"2002","journal-title":"Vet. Parasitol."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1764","DOI":"10.3201\/eid3109.241919","article-title":"Theileria luwenshuni and Novel Babesia spp. Infections in Humans, Yunnan Province, China","volume":"31","author":"Xiang","year":"2025","journal-title":"Emerg. Infect. Dis."},{"key":"ref_10","unstructured":"Huang, B., and Shen, J. (2006). Classific Atlas of Parasites for Livestock and Poultry in China, China Agricultural Science and Technology Press. (In Chinese)."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Leray, M., Yang, J.Y., Meyer, C.P., Mills, S.C., Agudelo, N., Ranwez, V., Boehm, J.T., and Machida, R.J. (2013). A new versatile primer set targeting a short fragment of the mitochondrial COI region for metabarcoding metazoan diversity: Application for characterizing coral reef fish gut contents. Front. Zool., 10.","DOI":"10.1186\/1742-9994-10-34"},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"65","DOI":"10.24171\/j.phrp.2017.8.1.09","article-title":"A Novel PCR Assay for detecting Brucella abortus and Brucella melitensis","volume":"8","author":"Alamian","year":"2017","journal-title":"Osong Public Health Res. Perspect."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"391","DOI":"10.1080\/17460913.2025.2479297","article-title":"A family cluster of Brucella abortus infections possibly due to contact with a sika deer in Northeast China","volume":"20","author":"Li","year":"2025","journal-title":"Future Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"103031","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jiph.2025.103031","article-title":"The clinical manifestations and laboratory test results of Brucella melitensis and Brucella abortus in acute brucellosis patients","volume":"19","author":"Li","year":"2025","journal-title":"J. Infect. Public Health"},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Seo, M.G., Lee, S.H., VanBik, D., Ouh, I.O., Yun, S.H., Choi, E., Park, Y.S., Lee, S.E., Kim, J.W., and Cho, G.J. (2016). Detection and genotyping of Coxiella burnetii and Coxiella-like bacteria in horses in South Korea. PLoS ONE, 11.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0156710"},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"809","DOI":"10.1093\/clinids\/22.5.809","article-title":"Babesiosis in patients with AIDS: A chronic infection presenting as fever of unknown origin","volume":"22","author":"Falagas","year":"1996","journal-title":"Clin. Infect. Dis."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Duron, O., No\u00ebl, V., McCoy, K.D., Bonazzi, M., Sidi-Boumedine, K., Morel, O., Vavre, F., Zenner, L., Jourdain, E., and Durand, P. (2015). The recent evolution of a maternally-inherited endosymbiont of ticks led to the emergence of the Q fever pathogen, Coxiella burnetii. PLoS Pathog., 11.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.ppat.1004892"},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Zhang, B., Zhang, N., Gao, C., Liu, M., Jie, R., Lu, M., Ma, Y., Meng, F., Huang, J., and Wang, X. (2024). Investigation of Babesia spp. and Theileria spp. in ticks from Western China and identification of a novel genotype of Babesia caballi. BMC Vet. Res., 20.","DOI":"10.1186\/s12917-024-04171-z"},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1870","DOI":"10.1093\/molbev\/msw054","article-title":"MEGA7: Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis Version 7.0 for Bigger Datasets","volume":"33","author":"Kumar","year":"2016","journal-title":"Mol. Biol. Evol."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"113","DOI":"10.1007\/978-1-59745-251-9_6","article-title":"Estimating maximum likelihood phylogenies with PhyML","volume":"537","author":"Guindon","year":"2009","journal-title":"Methods Mol. Biol."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Lindahl-Rajala, E., Hoffman, T., Fretin, D., Godfroid, J., Sattorov, N., Boqvist, S., Lundkvist, \u00c5., and Magnusson, U. (2017). Detection and characterization of Brucella spp. in bovine milk in small-scale urban and peri-urban farming in Tajikistan. PLoS Negl. Trop. Dis., 11.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0005367"},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2958","DOI":"10.1021\/acs.accounts.7b00445","article-title":"Brucellosis: Improved diagnostics and vaccine insights from synthetic glycans","volume":"50","author":"Bundle","year":"2017","journal-title":"Acc. Chem. Res."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1789","DOI":"10.3201\/eid2909.230052","article-title":"Global estimate of human brucellosis incidence","volume":"29","author":"Laine","year":"2023","journal-title":"Emerg. Infect. Dis."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"575","DOI":"10.1007\/s10096-019-03760-3","article-title":"Evaluation of serological diagnostic tests of human brucellosis for prevention and control in Mexico","volume":"39","year":"2020","journal-title":"Eur. J. Clin. Microbiol. Infect. Dis."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1045","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ttbdis.2018.03.021","article-title":"Brucella melitensis and B. abortus in eggs, larvae and engorged females of Dermacentor marginatus","volume":"9","author":"Wang","year":"2018","journal-title":"Ticks Tick Borne Dis."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"101588","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ttbdis.2020.101588","article-title":"Investigation of the presence of Ochrobactrum spp. and Brucella spp. in Haemaphysalis longicornis","volume":"12","author":"Zhang","year":"2021","journal-title":"Ticks Tick Borne Dis."},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"101478","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ttbdis.2020.101478","article-title":"Molecular detection of tick-borne pathogens harbored by ticks collected from livestock in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China","volume":"11","author":"Li","year":"2020","journal-title":"Ticks Tick Borne Dis."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"355","DOI":"10.2478\/jvetres-2024-0049","article-title":"Molecular analysis of Anaplasma ovis, Theileria ovis and Brucella abortus in adult Ornithodoros lahorensis soft ticks (Acari: Ixodida: Argasidae) isolated from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China","volume":"68","author":"Liu","year":"2024","journal-title":"J. Vet. Res."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"26","DOI":"10.1186\/s40249-016-0123-z","article-title":"MLVA and MLST typing of Brucella from Qinghai, China","volume":"5","author":"Ma","year":"2016","journal-title":"Infect. Dis. Poverty"},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1697","DOI":"10.1007\/s11686-022-00625-2","article-title":"18S rRNA Gene-Based Piroplasmid PCR: An Assay for Rapid and Precise Molecular Screening of Theileria and Babesia Species in Animals","volume":"67","author":"Kumar","year":"2022","journal-title":"Acta Parasitol."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2529855","DOI":"10.1155\/2024\/2529855","article-title":"Epidemiological and Molecular Characteristics of Piroplasmids and Anaplasma spp. in Tan Sheep, Ningxia, Northwest China","volume":"2024","author":"Zhou","year":"2024","journal-title":"Transbound. Emerg. Dis."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"110304","DOI":"10.1016\/j.vetpar.2024.110304","article-title":"Molecular-phylogenetic analyses of Babesia and Theileria species from small mammals and their ticks in northern China suggest new reservoirs of bovine and equine piroplasms","volume":"332","author":"Li","year":"2024","journal-title":"Vet. Parasitol."},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e30","DOI":"10.1017\/erm.2025.10016","article-title":"Human babesiosis: The past, present and future","volume":"27","author":"Asquith","year":"2025","journal-title":"Expert. Rev. Mol. Med."}],"container-title":["Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2414-6366\/11\/1\/17\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,2]],"date-time":"2026-03-02T11:03:57Z","timestamp":1772449437000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2414-6366\/11\/1\/17"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,7]]},"references-count":33,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1]]}},"alternative-id":["tropicalmed11010017"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/tropicalmed11010017","relation":{},"ISSN":["2414-6366"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2414-6366","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,7]]}}}