The surface fine structures of Ixodes persulcatus (Schulze, 1930) male and female specimens were observed by means of a scanning electron microscope. A brief review on the biology of the ticks and their disease relationships was also presented. The sexual dimorphism of the specimen was marked; the male was quite smaller than the female. The genital groove was well developed and deep, the anal groove was distinct and characteristically extending anteriorly around the anus. The 4th article was much reduced and situated on the top of the 3rd article ventrally. The hypostome dentition was usually 3/3. The bottom of the basis capitulum of the male specimen was strictly straight in shape. This species was regarded as one of the most important vectors for infectious diseases of migrating birds.
parasitology ; arthropoda ; electron microscopy ; tick ; Ixodes persulcatus

No abstract available.
Ixodes* ; Tick Bites* ; Ticks*

No abstract available.
Ixodes* ; Tick Bites* ; Ticks*

No abstract available.
Borrelia burgdorferi* ; Borrelia* ; Ixodes* ; Korea* ; Lyme Disease* ; Ticks*

This paper describes the results of clinical and epidemiological studies of pathogen-carrying madani tick bites and the vector-borne diseases. The studies were conducted by a group of researchers specially organized by the Japanese Association of Rural Medicine.Questionnaires were sent out to JARM-affiliated 108 medical institutions to collect information about cases of ixodiasis, Lyme disease and Japanese spotted fever. It was found that during 2002, there were 151 cases of Ixodes tick bites (67 males and 84 females) and 17 cases of Lyme disease (13 males and 4 females). The incidence of Japanese spotted fever was zero.The survey also found that before that year, 24 out of the 108 medical institutions had treated tick bite cases and 13 handn’t. No reply came from the rest. As to Lyme disease, six hospitals had experienced in treating this vector-borne disease, 31 hadn’t and the rest did not reply. Japanese spotted fever was confirmed by one hospital. Thirty-three hospitals said they had not encountered this disease. The remaining 74 facilities did not respond. It was regrettable that more than a half of the 108 institutions did not respond to the survey. Considering that new types of infectious diseases caused by new forms of pathogens are raging nowadays, we, professionals affiliated with the Japanese Association of Rural Medicine, must keep careful watch on these diseases.
Japanese language ; Ticks ; Genus: Ixodes ; Clinical ; Lyme Disease

Tick is one of the most important arthropods in the transmission of vector-borne diseases. In this study, we investigated the abundance and species of ticks associated with swine and their habitats to assess the risk of spread of tick-borne diseases in host species, such as wild boars. Ticks were collected from 24 grazing or traditionally reared domestic pig farms and 8 habitats of wild boars in 8 provinces and 1 city in the Republic of Korea, by using the dragging and flagging methods. Ticks were also collected directly from 49 wild boars by using fine forceps. A total of 9,846 hard ticks were collected, including 4,977 Haemaphysalis longicornis, 4,313 Haemaphysalis flava, 508 Ixodes nipponensis, 1 Ixodes turdus, and 47 Amblyomma testudinarium. A total of 240 hard ticks were collected from 49 wild boars, including 109 H. flava, 84 H. longicornis, and 47 A. testudinarium. A total of 578 hard ticks were collected from areas around domestic pig farms. Only 2 hard tick species, 546 H. longicornis and 32 H. flava, were collected from these areas. A total of 9,028 hard ticks were collected from wild boars of 8 habitats, including 4,347 H. longicornis, 4,172 H. flava, 508 I. nipponensis, and 1 I. turdus. A. testudinarium was collected only from wild boars, and I. nipponensis and I. turdus were collected only from the habitats of wild boars.
Agriculture ; Arthropods ; Ecosystem* ; Ixodes ; Ixodidae ; Republic of Korea* ; Surgical Instruments ; Sus scrofa* ; Swine ; Tick-Borne Diseases ; Ticks*

The importance of the ticks in medical field has been emphasized because of their association with and transmission of various diseases. We report herein a case of tick bite in a 55-year-old male farmer, who visited our hospital on July 2, 1981 with a parasite attached on right lower flank and rice to small pea sized, pruritic erythematous papular skin eruptions on chest and right lower flank. The skin lesions disappeared completely with.in five days after removal of the parasite, which was identified with an adult female tick which belongs to Genus Ixodes.
Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Ixodes* ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Parasites ; Peas ; Skin ; Thorax ; Tick Bites* ; Ticks*

Lyme disease (borreliosis) is a multi-systemic spirochetal infection, primarily caused by Borrelia burgdorferi, which is transmitted by Ixodes (Ixodid) species of ticks. Although it is the most common arthropod-borne disease in the U.S. and Europe, there have been relatively fewer reports of clinical cases in Korea. During the early disseminated stage, secondary erythema migrans may occur at sites distant from the site of tick attachment, signaling hematogenous dissemination of B. burgdorferi. We report a case of a 22-year-old woman who presented with unusual primary erythema migrans and multiple secondary erythema migrans. Despite lack of typicality of the clinical features, serologic investigations including immunofluorescent assay and Western immunoblot against specific antigens revealed Lyme disease.
Blotting, Western ; Borrelia burgdorferi ; Erythema ; Europe ; Female ; Humans ; Ixodes ; Korea ; Lyme Disease* ; Ticks ; Young Adult

Eleven Borrelia afzelii strains, isolated from Ixodes nipponensis and Apodemus agrarius in Korea, were characterized by groEL gene analysis. Results from previous studies suggested that the groEL gene, which encodes the 60-kDa heat shock protein GroEL, was useful for the differentiation of B. burgdorferi sensu lato. The B. afzelii isolates could be divided into two groups by the phylogenetic tree constructed by UPGMA method and Tsp509 I PCR-RFLP analysis. The result suggested that the groEL gene is useful for identification and characterization of B. burgdorferi sensu lato though a short DNA fragment (310 bp) of the gene was sequenced and compared each other, and that Korean B. afzelii strains are heterogeneous genotypically.
Animals ; Borrelia burgdorferi Group* ; Borrelia* ; DNA ; Heat-Shock Proteins ; Ixodes ; Korea* ; Murinae ; Population Characteristics

Eleven Borrelia afzelii strains, isolated from Ixodes nipponensis and Apodemus agrarius in Korea, were characterized by groEL gene analysis. Results from previous studies suggested that the groEL gene, which encodes the 60-kDa heat shock protein GroEL, was useful for the differentiation of B. burgdorferi sensu lato. The B. afzelii isolates could be divided into two groups by the phylogenetic tree constructed by UPGMA method and Tsp509 I PCR-RFLP analysis. The result suggested that the groEL gene is useful for identification and characterization of B. burgdorferi sensu lato though a short DNA fragment (310 bp) of the gene was sequenced and compared each other, and that Korean B. afzelii strains are heterogeneous genotypically.
Animals ; Borrelia burgdorferi Group* ; Borrelia* ; DNA ; Heat-Shock Proteins ; Ixodes ; Korea* ; Murinae ; Population Characteristics