Spotted Fever Group Infecting Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae), Yak (), and Tibetan Sheep () in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Area, China.

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Area (QTPA) has a complex natural ecosystem, causing a greatly increased risk of spreading various tick-borne diseases including rickettsial infections, which are regarded as one of the oldest known vector-borne zoonoses. However, the information of one of its pathogen, spotted fever group (SFG ), is limited in tick vectors and animals in this area. Therefore, this study focused on the investigation of SFG in tick vectors, yaks (), and Tibetan sheep () in the QTPA.