First detection and molecular identification of the zoonotic Anaplasma capra in deer in France

Cervids are known to be reservoirs of zoonotic bacteria transmitted by ticks. This study aimed to identify the Anaplasma species carried by captive red deer and swamp deer in a wild fauna reserve in France. Blood from 59 red deer and 7 swamp deer was collected and analyzed over a period of two years. A semi-nested PCR targeting the 23S rRNA was performed to detect and characterize Anaplasma spp. and determine the presence of zoonotic species. Anaplasma phagocytophilum was identified in 14/59 red deer (23.7%) but it was not identified in any of the swamp deer (7 animals). Three sequences could not be assigned to any particular species based on the 23S rRNA sequences. Complementary nested PCR targeting 16S rRNA, gltA and groEL genes and sequencing analysis then identified these sequences as a recently reported zoonotic species, Anaplasma capra; this species was found in 2 red deer (Cervus elaphus) and 1 swamp deer (Rucervus duvaucelii). This is the first report of the tick-borne zoonotic bacterium A. capra in France, a species otherwise described only in China, Japan, Malaysia and South Korea in goats, sheep, deer, cattle and Japanese serows (Capricornis crispus). While this bacterium may have been introduced into the reserve by infected imported animals, its local epidemiological cycle via tick transmission seems possible as locally born deer were found infected. Diagnostic methods, especially molecular ones, should take into account the potential infection of animals and humans with this species.