Rickettsia Vini DNA in Ticks Collected from Nest Burrows of the European Sand Martin () in Sweden.

Birds can cross geographical and environmental barriers and thereby facilitate dispersal of tick-borne pathogens both as carriers of infected ticks and as reservoirs of pathogenic microorganisms. (Ixodida: Ixodidae) is an endophilic tick in the Palearctic region that is highly specialized on its host, the European sand martin . The purpose of this study was to determine whether ticks sampled from sand martin nests in Sweden carry vector-borne pathogens. Fed ticks were collected in the autumns of 2017 and 2019 from the nests of a European sand martin colony in southern Sweden. Ticks were identified morphologically to developmental stage and species and were tested for tick-borne pathogens using PCR-based methods. None of the 41 ticks tested positive for five tick-borne pathogens including spp., tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), , and spp. Thirty-seven (13 females, 23 nymphs and 1 larva) of the 41 ticks tested positive for the gene of spp. The sequences of the 17 kDa and genes were most closely related to Rickettsia vini. Our study confirms other reports that ticks associated with the European sand martin have high infection prevalence of R. vini.