A new tick-transmitted bacterium from patients in northern China

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(15)70097-6/fulltext?elsca1=etoc&elsca2=email&elsca3=1473-3099_201506_15_6_&elsca4=Public%20Health%7CInfectious%20Diseases%7CInternal%2FFamily%20Medicine%7CNeuropsychiatry%7CNeurology%7CLancet

Of goats and men: rethinking anaplasmoses as zoonotic infections

Andrea R Beyer, Jason A Carlyonemail
Published Online: 29 March 2015

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(15)70097-6

   Summary

Ticks transmit the widest variety of pathogens among arthropod vectors, leading to substantial public health threats and economic loss in livestock industries. Novel tick-transmitted microbes with links to human disease continue to be discovered. In The Lancet Infectious Diseases, Hao Li and colleagues describe a new tick-transmitted bacterium from patients in northern China. PCR and sequencing showed nucleotide variations signifying a phylogenetically distinct Anaplasma species. The provisionally nominated "Anaplasma capra"—so named for its discovery in goats (Capra aegagrus hircus)—joins the growing list of human anaplasmosis pathogens with pastoral origins.