Ticks are hematophagous vectors of arthropod-borne disease agents globally. In Malaysia, despite seroprevalence studies indicating the presence of tick-borne diseases among the indigenous people, the etiological agents of these diseases are still unclear. These indigenous people, also known as the Orang Asli, still live in forested areas with frequent contact with wildlife. Wild boar are ubiquitously found in the forested areas where the Orang Asli communities are located and are commonly hunted as a food supplement. In this study, we aim to determine the tick species parasitizing wild boar from an Orang Asli community, and explore the tick-associated bacterial communities using 16 s rRNA amplicon sequencing on the Ion Torrent PGM™ platform.

A total of 72 ticks were collected from three wild boar and were morphologically identified as Haemaphysalis hystricis (n = 32), Dermacentor compactus (n = 15), Amblyomma testudinarium (n = 13), Dermacentor steini (n = 10) and Dermacentor atrosignatus (n = 2). Across all tick samples, 910 bacterial taxa were identified. Although the bacterial communities were not significantly distinct between tick species in beta-diversity analyses, Coxiella, Rickettsia and Francisella were detected at high relative abundance in H. hystricis, D. compactus and D. steini respectively. Many other bacterial genera, including those that have been described in many different tick species, were also identified, including Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, Staphylococcus and Corynebacterium. Beta-diversity analyses also showed that the bacterial communities were separated based on the animal host from which the ticks were collected from, suggesting that the bacterial communities here may be influenced by the animal skin microflora, host blood or the environment. PCR screening confirmed the presence of Rickettsia sp. related to spotted fever group Rickettsia in some of the ticks.

This study provides baseline knowledge of the microbiome of H. hystricis, D. atrosignatus, D. compactus, D. steini and A. testudinarium parasitizing wild boar in this region. The information gained in this study provides the basis to target our efforts in H. hystricis, D. compactus and D. steini for the future investigation of vector competence and the zoonotic potential for the Coxiella, Rickettsia and Francisella detected here, as well as their implications for the risks of tick-borne diseases among the Orang Asli communities.

壁虱是全球节肢动物传播的病原体的食血载体。在马来西亚，尽管有血清流行病学研究表明土著人民中存在tick传播疾病，但这些疾病的病因仍不清楚。这些土著人民（也称为Orang Asli）仍然生活在森林地区，经常与野生动植物接触。在Orang Asli社区所在的森林地区无处不在发现野猪，通常将其作为食物的补充品。在这项研究中，我们旨在确定寄生于Orang Asli社区的野猪的the种，并在Ion Torrent PGM™平台上使用16 s rRNA扩增子测序探索与tick相关的细菌群落。

从三只野猪中收集了总共72个s，在形态上被鉴定为猪血肿（n = 32），致密性皮肤Dermacentor（n = 15），睾丸吸虫（nmblyomma testudinarium）（n = 13），硬皮病Dermacentor steini（n = 10）和皮肤性萎缩症（Aersignatus）。（n = 2）。在所有壁虱样本中，共鉴定出910个细菌类群。虽然细菌群落没有蜱物种之间不同显著在β-内多样性分析，贝氏，立克次氏体和弗朗西斯在高相对丰度进行检测在H. hystricis，D. compactus和D. steini分别。还鉴定了许多其他细菌属，包括已在许多不同壁虱物种中描述的细菌属，包括假单胞菌，不动杆菌，葡萄球菌和棒状杆菌。Beta多样性分析还显示，细菌群落是根据收集host的动物宿主而分离的，这表明此处的细菌群落可能受到动物皮肤微生物区系，宿主血液或环境的影响。PCR筛选证实存在立克次体。与斑点热中的立克次体斑点热有关。

这项研究提供的微生物的基础知识H. hystricis，D. atrosignatus，D. compactus，D. steini和A. testudinarium寄生野猪在这个区域。在这项研究中获得的信息提供了基础的目标努力在H. hystricis，D. compactus和D. steini矢量能力的未来研究，为人畜共患的潜力贝氏，立克次氏体和弗朗西斯检测在这里，以及它们的对Orang Asli社区中tick传播疾病风险的影响。