Tick-borne rickettsial diseases (TBRD) are commonly encountered in medical and veterinary clinical settings. The control of these diseases is difficult, requiring disruption of a complex transmission chain involving a vertebrate host and ticks. The geographical distribution of the diseases is related to distribution of the vector, which is an indicator of risk for the population. A total of 1,107 ticks were collected by tick dragging from forests, ecotourism parks and hosts at 101 sites in 22 of the 32 states of Mexico. Collected ticks were placed in 1.5 mL cryovials containing 70% ethanol and were identified to species. Ticks were pooled according to location/host of collection, date of collection, sex, and stage of development. A total of 51 ticks were assayed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to confirm species identification using morphological methods. A total of 477 pools of ticks were assayed using PCR techniques for selected tick-borne pathogens. Anaplasma phagocytophilum was the most commonly detected pathogen (45 pools), followed by, Ehrlichia (E.) canis (42), Rickettsia (R.) rickettsii (11), E. chaffeensis (8), and R. amblyommii (1). Rhipicephalus sanguineus was the tick most frequently positive for selected pathogens. Overall, our results indicate that potential tick vectors positive for rickettsial pathogens are distributed throughout the area surveyed in Mexico.
Anaplasma phagocytophilum ; Animals* ; Ehrlichia ; Ehrlichia canis ; Ehrlichia chaffeensis ; Ethanol ; Forests ; Humans* ; Mexico* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Rhipicephalus sanguineus ; Rickettsia ; Ticks* ; Vertebrates

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*

Tick bites are dermatoses not commonly encountered in Korea. Identification of causative ticks as well as recognition of clinical signs and histopathologic findings are important in making a diagnosis in tick-related dermatoses. Hard ticks which belong to the Family Ixodidae are responsible for most tick-related diseases. Since the first human case of tick bite in Korea was reported in 1982, seventeen cases have been reported up to the present. All the inflicted ticks belonged to the genus Ixodes except a case by Haemaphysalis flava. Among 16 ticks, collected from 16 cases of tick bites caused by the genus Ixodes, nine I. nipponenses, an I. ovatus and I. persulcatus were identified. Recently we experienced 8 cases of tick bites, 6 of them were caused by the genus Ixodes including 4 I. nipponenses. One of them, whose essential complaint was fever and chills, showed the clinical course of tick bite pyrexia which had not been reported in Korea. The clinical and epidemiological findings of tick bites reported in Korea were reviewed, including these 8 cases.
Chills ; Diagnosis ; Fever ; Humans ; Ixodes ; Ixodidae ; Korea ; Skin Diseases ; Tick Bites* ; Ticks*

Chemotherapeutic treatment is still the foundation of tick control programs. This study investigated the acaricidal efficacy of cypermethrin alone and in combination with chlorpyrifos against Haemaphysalis (H.) longicornis. Unfed larval ticks were exposed to 0.1, 1.0, and 10 mg/mL cypermethrin for 60 min, after which the acaricidal efficacy was examined based on tick mortality. All compounds showed similar suppression curves, with the best control being achieved by cypermethrin and chlorpyrifos (1 : 1 ratio) at 10 mg/mL. Effective cypermethrin concentrations for tick control were two to seven times higher than the recommended doses, indicating resistance by H. longicornis.
Chlorpyrifos* ; Ixodidae* ; Mortality ; Tick Control ; Ticks

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

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

The seasonal abundance of hard ticks that transmit severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus was monitored with a collection trap method every April to November during 2015–2018 and with a flagging method every July and August during 2015–2018 in Ganghwa-do (island) of Incheon Metropolitan City, Republic of Korea. This monitoring was performed in a copse, a short grass field, coniferous forest and broad-leaved forest. A total of 17,457 ticks (8,277 larvae, 4,137 nymphs, 3,389 females, and 1,654 males) of the ixodid ticks comprising 3 species (Haemaphysalis longicornis, H. flava, and Ixodes nipponensis) were collected with collection traps. Of the identified ticks, H. longicornis was the most frequently collected ticks (except larval ticks) (94.26%, 8,653/9,180 ticks (nymphs and adults)), followed by H. flava (5.71%, 524/9,180) and Ix. nipponensis (less than 0.04%, 3/9,180). The ticks collected with collecting traps were pooled and assayed for the presence of SFTS virus with negative results. In addition, for monitoring the prevalence of hard ticks, a total of 7,461 ticks (5,529 larvae, 1,272 nymphs, 469 females, and 191 males) of the ixodid ticks comprising 3 species (H. longicornis, H. flava, and Ix. nipponensis) were collected with flagging method. H. longicornis was the highest collected ticks (except larval ticks) (99.53%, 1,908/1,917 ticks (nymphs and adults)), followed by H. flava (1.15%, 22/1,917).
Climate Change ; Coniferophyta ; Female ; Fever ; Forests ; Humans ; Incheon ; Ixodes ; Ixodidae ; Larva ; Methods ; Nymph ; Poaceae ; Prevalence ; Republic of Korea ; Seasons ; Thrombocytopenia ; Ticks

Ticks are the vectors of various pathogens, threatening human health and animal production across the globe. Here, for the first time we detected Ricketssia spp., Borrelia spp. and protozoan in ticks from Poyang Lake region in Jiangxi Province of eastern China. In 3 habitat categories and on 12 host species, 311 ticks from 11 species were collected. Haemaphysalis longicornis was the predominant species, accounting for 55.63%, followed by Rhipicephalus microplus, Haemaphysalis flava and Ixodes granulatus. Of the collected ticks, 7.07% were positive for tick-borne pathogens, and H. longicornis and H. flava were found to be co-infected with Ricketssia spp. and protozoan. H. flava was the most detected positive for tick-borne pathogens, whereas H. longicornis had the lowest infection rate, and the difference in infection rates between tick species was significant (χ²=61.24, P < 0.001). Furthermore, adult ticks demonstrated remarkably greater infection rate than immature ticks (χ²=10.12, P=0.018), meanwhile ticks on Erinaceidae showed significantly higher positivity than ticks collected on other host species (χ²=108.44, P < 0.001). Genetic fragment sequencing and analyses showed at least 4 pathogen species presence in ticks, namely Borrelia yangtzensis, Rickettsia slovaca or Rickettsia raoultii related genospecies, Babesia vogeli and Hepatozoon canis or Hepatozoon felis related genospecies. The finding indicates that the abundant ticks can carry diverse pathogens in Poyang Lake region, and pathogen infection is highly related to species, vertebrate hosts and life stages of ticks.
Adult ; Animals ; Babesia ; Borrelia ; Cats ; China ; Ecosystem ; Epidemiology ; Felis ; Hedgehogs ; Humans ; Ixodes ; Lakes ; Rhipicephalus ; Rickettsia ; Risk Factors ; Ticks ; Vertebrates

The 65th Medical Brigade and Public Health Command District-Korea, in collaboration with the Migratory Bird Research Center, National Park Research Institute, conducted migratory bird tick surveillance at Sogugul and Gaerin Islands (small rocky bird nesting sites), Jeollanam-do (Province), Republic of Korea (ROK), on 30 July and 1 August 2009. Breeding seabirds captured by hands in their nesting burrows were banded, identified to species, and carefully examined for ticks during the nesting season. A total of 9 Ornithodoros sawaii larvae were removed from 4 adult Hydrobates monorhis (Swinhoe's storm petrel). The identification of the larvae of O. sawaii collected from migratory seabirds were molecularly confirmed using mitochondrial 16S rDNA primer sets.
Academies and Institutes ; Adult ; Argasidae ; Birds ; Breeding ; Cooperative Behavior ; DNA, Ribosomal ; Hand ; Humans ; Islands* ; Jeollanam-do* ; Larva* ; Ornithodoros* ; Public Health ; Republic of Korea* ; Seasons ; Ticks

In order to determine the effect of various hosts on feeding performance of Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus, we used 3 mammalian species as hosts, cattle (Qinchuan), sheep (T an), and rabbits (Japanese white rabbit) for infest-ing ticks. Five hundreds of R. microplus larvae were exposed to each animal (3 animals/host species). Tick recoveries were 11.0%, 0.47%, and 5.5% from cattle, sheep, and rabbits, respectively. The averages of tick feeding periods were not significantly different on cattle, sheep, and rabbits, 28.8, 25.3, and 26.7 days, respectively. The average weights of individual engorged female from cattle, sheep, and rabbits were 312.5, 219.1, and 130.2 mg, respectively and those of egg mass weights each to 85.0, 96.6, and 17.8 mg. The highest egg hatching rate was in the ticks from cattle (96.0%), fol-lowed by those from rabbits (83.0%) and sheep (19.2%). These data suggest that rabbits could be as an alternative host to cultivate R. microplus for evaluating vaccines and chemical and biological medicines against the tick in the laboratory, although the biological parameters of ticks were less than those from cattle.
Animals ; Cattle* ; Female ; Humans ; Larva ; Ovum ; Rabbits* ; Rhipicephalus* ; Sheep* ; Ticks ; Vaccines ; Weights and Measures