Bacterial Communities Harboured by Amblyomma Hebraeum Infesting Small Stock in Mahikeng city, South Africa.

ABSTRACT: Ticks are important vectors of pathogens affecting livestock productivity and public health, yet their bacterial communities remain poorly characterized in many parts of South Africa. This study investigated the bacterial diversity and potential pathogenic bacterial etiology associated with Amblyomma hebraeum ticks collected from sheep and goats in Mahikeng, North West province. A total of 168 adult ticks were sampled across four villages. Microbiome profiling was performed using high-throughput sequencing of the V3-V4 hypervariable regions of the 16S rRNA gene on the Illumina MiSeq platform. High-throughput 16S rRNA sequencing revealed 16,193 ASVs in goat-derived ticks and 16,510 ASVs in those from sheep. Proteobacteria emerged as the dominant phylum across all samples, with ticks collect

SUBMITTER: Mileng K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12594692 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature