Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis and its co-circulation with Anaplasma phagocytophilum in Ixodes ricinus ticks across ecologically different habitats of Central Europe

Background: candidatus neoehrlichia mikurensis is a newly emerging tick-borne bacterium from the family anaplasmataceae. its presence in ixodes ricinus ticks was reported from various european countries,however,it's ecology and co-circulation with another member of the same family,anaplasma phagocytophilum has not been rigorously studied yet. findings. candidatus n. mikurensis was detected in all sampling sites. in total,4.5% of ticks were positive including larvae. the highest positivity was detected in austria with a prevalence of 23.5%. the probability of candidatus n. mikurensis occurrence increased with the proportion of ticks infected with anaplasma phagocytophilum. conclusion: a positive association between the occurrences of candidatus n. mikurensis and a. phagocytophilum indicates that both bacteria share similar ecology for their natural foci in central europe. © 2014 derdáková et al.; licensee biomed central ltd.