Distribution and Molecular Epidemiology of in and Small Ruminants in Border Regions of South Xinjiang, China.

are obligate intracellular bacteria that can endanger human and animal health, and they can be transmitted by arthropod vectors, such as and ticks. In this study, 433 specimens, including 370 and 63 sheep blood samples, were collected from nine districts of South Xinjiang to investigate the distribution and molecular epidemiology of in and small ruminant. DNA of was detected in 109 (25.2%, 109/433) of the 433 samples using PCR and sequencing. The analysis of sequences revealed four different genotypes, including genotype III (47.7%; 52/109), GB3 (34.0%; 37/109), AoGOv3 (15.6%; 17/109), and XJ9 (2.8%; 3/109). To the best of our knowledge, genotypes GB3, AoGOv3, and XJ9 detected in this study are the first to be reported in , and our data indicate that XJ9 is a novel genotype presented herein for the first time. These findings provide important references for the new understanding and prevention of in border counties in China.