Distribution of tick species collected from Isiolo and Kwale counties, individual species collected based on Cytochrome C Oxidase subunit I Identification.

Distribution of tick species collected from Isiolo and Kwale counties, individual species collected based on Cytochrome C Oxidase subunit I Identification.</p

Percentage stacked bar charts showing the abundances at the bacterial order level (a), genus level (b), and species level (c) per sample.

Samples with the’ ISL’ prefix are from Isiolo while those with the ’KWL’ prefix are from Kwale. (TIF)</p

Comparative scatter plots of Alpha diversity indices of Operational Taxonomic Units at the bacterial order level (a), bacterial genus level (b), and bacterial species level (c).

The three colors represent the tick genus from which they were identified. Note the reduction in richness (Shannon diversity) and an increase in evenness (Simpson diversity) the lower the taxonomic identification level. There is a marked drop in Simpson diversity between the bacterial genus and bacterial species level which coincides with the loss of the Rickettsia genus which could not be speciated.</p

Distribution of OTUs that were classified to the bacterial species level per tick genera.

Distribution of OTUs that were classified to the bacterial species level per tick genera.</p

Distribution of ticks according to species and site.

Distribution of ticks according to species and site.</p

Map of Sampling Sites, Isiolo County (a) Kwale County (b).

These maps were generated using ArcGIS version 10.2.2 for Desktop (Advanced License) courtesy of Samwel Owaka.</p

The alpha diversity of identified bacterial read clusters at the bacterial order, genus, and species level.

The alpha diversity of identified bacterial read clusters at the bacterial order, genus, and species level.</p

PERMANOVA results for beta diversity between tick genera at different bacterial taxonomic classification levels.

PERMANOVA results for beta diversity between tick genera at different bacterial taxonomic classification levels.</p

The Minimum Infection Rates (MIR) per 100 ticks collected from different vertebrate hosts.

The Minimum Infection Rates (MIR) per 100 ticks collected from different vertebrate hosts.</p

Ticks collected from Isiolo and Kwale counties based on host and tick species.

Ticks collected from Isiolo and Kwale counties based on host and tick species.</p