What happens if a tick is infected with anaplasmosis? - briefly
An infected tick carries Anaplasma bacteria and can transmit the pathogen to animals or humans during a blood meal, potentially causing anaplasmosis in the host. The tick itself shows no overt symptoms, though infection may modestly shorten its lifespan or lower reproductive output.
What happens if a tick is infected with anaplasmosis? - in detail
Anaplasma spp. colonize the midgut of a fed tick, multiply, and migrate to the salivary glands. The bacterium survives the molting process, allowing the arthropod to retain infection across developmental stages (transstadial transmission). During the blood meal, bacterial cells are secreted with saliva, enabling inoculation into the vertebrate host.
The infection influences the tick in several measurable ways:
- Pathogen load – bacterial numbers increase dramatically in the midgut within 24–48 hours after ingestion of infected blood, reaching concentrations of 10⁶–10⁸ organisms per tick.
- Tissue tropism – after replication, Anaplasma spp. penetrate the basal lamina and accumulate in the salivary glands, the primary site for transmission to new hosts.
- Molting success – experimental data show a modest reduction (5–15 %) in molting efficiency compared with uninfected conspecifics, indicating a physiological cost to the vector.
- Feeding behavior – infected ticks often exhibit prolonged attachment periods, which may enhance pathogen transmission but can also increase exposure to host defenses.
- Survival – mortality rates are slightly elevated under stressful conditions (e.g., low humidity), reflecting the metabolic burden of maintaining the infection.
- Transovarial passage – most Anaplasma species do not pass from adult females to eggs; the infection is therefore maintained in the population primarily through successive blood meals.
Overall, an infected tick serves as a competent reservoir and delivery system for the bacterium, with the pathogen exploiting the vector’s digestive and salivary pathways while imposing measurable fitness penalties on the arthropod.