Ticks are major arthropod vectors of disease, transmitting tick-borne pathogens during blood meal episodes. Rickettsia spp. and Borrelia spp. are two tick-borne pathogens of zoonotic concern previously identified in DNA isolates from the tick genera Amblyomma and Bothriocroton associated with reptilian hosts in Australia. Some reports suggest that these reptile ticks bite and attach to humans via accidental parasitism and transmit disease, with the tick Bothriocroton hydrosauri known to transmit Rickettsia honei or Flinders Island Spotted Fever Rickettsia to humans. This descriptive study aims to identify the ticks collected from wild reptiles submitted to veterinary clinics and captured by snake rescuers from New South Wales (NSW), Australia, and detect the presence of tick-borne bacterial DNA using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) to detect Rickettsia spp. and Bartonella spp. and conventional nested-PCR to detect Borrelia spp. Morphological identification revealed ticks removed from one eastern blue-tongued lizard (Tiliqua scincoides scincoides) from North-Eastern NSW (Lismore), one eastern blue-tongued lizard from the Greater Sydney area (Canley Heights), one diamond python (Morelia spilota spilota) from the Greater Sydney area (Woronora Heights) and one red-bellied black snake (Pseudechis porphyriacus) from the Greater Sydney Area (Cronulla) in New South Wales were Amblyomma moreliae. No ticks were positive for Bartonella spp. and Borrelia spp. DNA using real-time PCR targeting ssrA gene and nested PCR targeting Borrelia-specific 16S rRNA gene, respectively. Real-time PCR targeting gltA, ompA, ompB and 17kDa gene of Rickettsia spp. revealed 14 out of 16 ticks were positive. The undescribed Rickettsia sp. DNA was identical to that previously recovered from reptile ticks in Australia and closely related to Rickettsia tamurae and Rickettsia monacensis, both of which are aetiologic pathogens of the Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiosis (SFGR). These results accentuate the ongoing need for increased study efforts to understand zoonotic potential of bacteria from reptile ticks and the tick-reptile-human relationship.

蜱虫是疾病的主要节肢动物媒介，在血餐发作期间传播蜱传病原体。立克次体属和疏螺旋体属是两种蜱传的人畜共患病原体，先前在澳大利亚与爬行动物宿主相关的蜱属 Amblyomma 和 Bothriocroton 的 DNA 分离物中发现。一些报告表明，这些爬行动物蜱通过意外寄生叮咬并附着在人类身上并传播疾病，已知蜱 Bothriocroton hydrosauri 将 Rickettsia honei 或 Flinders Island 斑疹热 Rickettsia 传播给人类。这项描述性研究旨在识别从提交给兽医诊所并由澳大利亚新南威尔士州 （NSW） 的蛇救援人员捕获的野生爬行动物中收集的蜱虫，并使用定量聚合酶链反应 （qPCR） 检测立克次体属和巴尔通体属和常规嵌套 PCR 检测疏螺旋体属。形态鉴定显示，从新南威尔士州东北部（利斯莫尔）的一只东部蓝舌蜥 （Tiliqua scincoides scincoides）、大悉尼地区（Canley Heights）的一只东部蓝舌蜥蜴、大悉尼地区（Woronora Heights）的一条钻石蟒 （Morelia spilota spilota） 和新南威尔士州大悉尼地区 （Cronulla） 的一条红腹黑蛇 （Pseudechis porphyriacus） 中去除的蜱虫是Amblyomma moreliae.分别使用实时 PCR 靶向 ssrA 基因和巢式 PCR 靶向疏螺旋体特异性 16S rRNA 基因，巴尔通体属和疏螺旋体属 DNA 无蜱阳性。 实时 PCR 靶向立克次体 spp. 的 gltA、ompA、ompB 和 17kDa 基因显示 16 个蜱虫中有 14 个呈阳性。未描述的立克次体属 DNA 与先前从澳大利亚爬行动物蜱中回收的 DNA 相同，并且与 Rickettsia tamurae 和 Rickettsia monacensis 密切相关，两者都是斑点热组立克次体病 （SFGR） 的病因病原体。这些结果强调了持续需要加大研究工作，以了解爬行动物蜱虫细菌的人畜共患潜力以及蜱虫-爬行动物-人类的关系。