PCR Based Prevalence Study of in Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Mykolaiv Oblasts during 2015-2018.

Introduction: Tularaemia is a zoonotic disease caused by the gram-negative bacterium , which is endemic to Ukraine. The aim of this work was to provide screening of different field samples (rodent tails, ticks, pellets, water, and hay) to obtain an actual picture of the tularaemia epizootic situation in the Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Mykolaiv oblasts.

Material And Methods: Samples were collected using the flag method (for ticks) and break-back traps (for rodents). Also, hay, water and owl pellets were collected for study. The genetic material in samples was detected using a 16S qPCR.

Results: It was found that in Kharkiv oblast, 23% of collected samples were positive for , in Dnipropetrovsk oblast 1.9%, and in Mykolaiv oblast 0.4%.

Conclusion: Among the sample types, 34.7% of ticks, 1.8% of rodents, and 36.4% of pellets were positive for . The most frequent carriers of were the and ticks (74.2% and 29.3%, respectively, of positive results).