Prevalence of Anaplasma phagocytophilum in fallow deer (Dama dama) and feeding ticks from an Italy preserve.

Up to date, information concerning the Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection in fallow deer is scant, therefore, to verify its prevalence in these ungulates serological and PCR screenings were performed on blood of 72 fallow deer hunted in a Central–Northern Italian preserve. Molecular analyses were also performed on 90 ticks removed from the animals.