Molecular Evidence of , spp. and the Endosymbiont Midichloria Mitochondrii in Infesting Tortoises from Doha, Qatar.

Tick-borne agents constitute a growing concern for human and animal health worldwide. is a hard tick with a three-host life cycle, whose main hosts for adults are Palearctic tortoises of genus . Nevertheless, immature ticks can feed on a variety of hosts, representing an important eco-epidemiological issue regarding pathogens circulation. ticks are vectors and/or reservoirs of various pathogenic agents, such as , , and . and are emergent tick-borne bacteria with a worldwide distribution and zoonotic potential, responsible for diseases that cause clinical manifestations that grade from acute febrile illness to a fulminant disease characterized by multi-organ system failure, depending on the species. and are tick-borne parasites with increasing importance in multiple species. tortoises acquired in a large animal market in Doha, Qatar, were screened for a panel of tick-borne pathogens by conventional PCR followed by bidirectional sequencing. The most prevalent agent identified in ticks was (28.6%), followed by Midichloria mitochondrii (9.5%) and spp. (4.7%). All samples were negative for spp. and spp. Overall, 43% of the examined adult ticks were infected with at least one agent. Only 4.7% of the ticks appeared to be simultaneously infected with two agents, i.e., spp. and . This is the first detection of , spp. and M. mitochondrii in ticks collected from pet spur-thighed tortoises, in Qatar, a fact which adds to the geographical extension of these agents. The international trade of tortoises carrying ticks infected with pathogens of veterinary and medical importance deserves strict control, in order to reduce potential exotic diseases.