We screened 768 tick pools containing 6,962 ticks from Khammouan Province, Laos, by using quantitative real-time PCR and identified Rickettsia spp., Ehrlichia spp., and Borrelia spp. Sequencing of Rickettsia spp.-positive and Borrelia spp.-positive pools provided evidence for distinct genotypes. Our results identified bacteria with human disease potential in ticks in Laos.
Keywords: Amblyomma; Anaplasma; Borrelia; Coxiella; Dermacentor; Ehrlichia; Haemaphysalis; Laos; Rickettsia; Southeast Asia; bacteria; survey; tickborne bacteria; ticks; vector-borne infections.