Cossu, Carlo AndreaCollins, Nicola E.Oosthuizen, Marinda C.Menandro, Maria LuisaBhoora, Raksha VasantraiVorster, IlseCassini, RudiStoltsz, HeinQuan, MelvynVan Heerden, Henriette2024-08-272024-08-272023-03-09Cossu, C.A.; Collins, N.E.; Oosthuizen, M.C.; Menandro, M.L.; Bhoora, R.V.; Vorster, I.; Cassini, R.; Stoltsz, H.; Quan, M.; van Heerden, H. Distribution and Prevalence of Anaplasmataceae, Rickettsiaceae and Coxiellaceae in African Ticks: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Microorganisms 2023, 11, 714. https://DOI.org/10.3390/microorganisms11030714.2076-2607 (online)10.3390/microorganisms11030714http://hdl.handle.net/2263/97879DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT : Raw data are publicly available on Mendeley Data: https://data. mendeley.com/datasets/w7ghxty6tc/1, accessed on 15 February 2023.SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION : TABLE S1: PRISMA checklist and additional checklist based on Migliavaca et al., 2020, guidelines; TABLE S2: List of papers excluded during full-text examination and relevant exclusion criteria; TABLE S3: Details of qualitative analysis; TABLE S4: Details of critical appraisal. References [102–183] are cited in the supplementary materials.In Africa, ticks continue to be a major hindrance to the improvement of the livestock industry due to tick-borne pathogens that include Anaplasma, Ehrlichia, Rickettsia and Coxiella species. A systemic review and meta-analysis were conducted here and highlighted the distribution and prevalence of these tick-borne pathogens in African ticks. Relevant publications were searched in five electronic databases and selected using inclusion/exclusion criteria, resulting in 138 and 78 papers included in the qualitative and quantitative analysis, respectively. Most of the studies focused on Rickettsia africae (38 studies), followed by Ehrlichia ruminantium (27 studies), Coxiella burnetii (20 studies) and Anaplasma marginale (17 studies). A meta-analysis of proportions was performed using the random-effects model. The highest prevalence was obtained for Rickettsia spp. (18.39%; 95% CI: 14.23–22.85%), R. africae (13.47%; 95% CI: 2.76–28.69%), R. conorii (11.28%; 95% CI: 1.77–25.89%), A. marginale (12.75%; 95% CI: 4.06–24.35%), E. ruminantium (6.37%; 95% CI: 3.97–9.16%) and E. canis (4.3%; 95% CI: 0.04–12.66%). The prevalence of C. burnetii was low (0%; 95% CI: 0–0.25%), with higher prevalence for Coxiella spp. (27.02%; 95% CI: 10.83–46.03%) and Coxiella-like endosymbionts (70.47%; 95% CI: 27–99.82%). The effect of the tick genera, tick species, country and other variables were identified and highlighted the epidemiology of Rhipicephalus ticks in the heartwater; affinity of each Rickettsia species for different tick genera; dominant distribution of A. marginale, R. africae and Coxiella-like endosymbionts in ticks and a low distribution of C. burnetii in African hard ticks.en© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.AnaplasmaRickettsiaCoxiellaEhrlichiaTick-borne diseaseAfricaSDG-03: Good health and well-beingArticle