Abstract
A biologist was bitten by Ornithodoros (Alectorobius) muesebecki Hoogstraal, an endemic tick parasite of nesting and resting marine birds on islands in eastern Arabia. Irritating bullae developed and for four months he experienced intermittent inflammation and irritation. Two years earlier, after being bitten by the same tick species on a different island, he had experienced only irritation lasting no more than a fortnight. Petroleum-industry labourers on another island were admitted to hospital for about two weeks with bullae at numerous bite sites, intense pruritus, headache, and fever. Zirqa virus (Bunyaviridae, Nairovirus) has been isolated from O. (A.) muesebecki samples from Abu Dhabi. The role of Zirqa virus and/or of salivary toxins in producing irritation and illness, as well as individual sensitivity to the tick and the seasonal dynamics of toxicity or infectivity, should be investigated.
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