Abstract
BackgroundCorsica is a mountainous French island in the north-western Mediterranean presenting a large diversity of natural environments where many interactions between domestic animals and wild fauna occur. Despite a favourable context for ticks and tick-borne diseases (TBDs), the tick fauna of Corsica has not systematically been investigated.MethodsFor one year (May 2014-May 2015), a survey of ticks infesting cattle was performed in the three Corsican cattle slaughterhouses. Two of these were visited monthly and one quarterly; the ticks were manually collected, just after flaying. Ticks were identified on their morphology; when necessary, some specimens were also molecularly identified by sequencing mitochondrial cox1 (cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1) and 16S ribosomal RNA genes and ITS2 (internal transcribed spacer 2). During the same period, ticks from other domestic animals (small ruminants, horses, domestic carnivores) and wild animals (wild boars, mouflons, deer) were occasionally collected.ResultsA total of 1,938 ticks was collected from 264 of 418 cattle examined, reared in 86 different localities. Eight tick species were found infesting cattle: Rhipicephalus bursa (56.1 %), Hyalomma marginatum (21.5 %), Hy. scupense (8.7 %), Ixodes ricinus (5.7 %), Haemaphysalis punctata (4.8 %), Rh. sanguineus (sensu lato) (2.3 %), Rh. (Boophilus) annulatus (0.7 %) and Dermacentor marginatus (0.2 %). The cattle infestation rate remained high all year (more than 50 %). Several tick species showed seasonal variation of their activity. From other Corsican animals 1,196 ticks were collected. Comparing ticks collected from cattle with those found on other animals, several host preferences were shown. A noteworthy record is that of a few Ha. sulcata on mouflons which were mainly infested by Rh. bursa.ConclusionThe Corsican tick fauna is characterized by typical Mediterranean species (Rh. bursa and Hy. marginatum), but the mild climate and diversified environment provide satisfactory habitats both for species usually found in dry areas (Hy. scupense) and species usually collected in humid areas (I. ricinus).
Highlights
Corsica is a mountainous French island in the north-western Mediterranean presenting a large diversity of natural environments where many interactions between domestic animals and wild fauna occur
This study reports the composition of tick fauna infesting cattle in Corsica and its variation in space and time
Cattle were chosen as a model host to investigate the Corsican tick fauna because its husbandry system is still of a very extensive type: there are no barns, animals are reared outside all year round and acaricide treatments are performed without well-established criteria and with low frequency
Summary
Corsica is a mountainous French island in the north-western Mediterranean presenting a large diversity of natural environments where many interactions between domestic animals and wild fauna occur. The importance of ticks lies in their direct effects (blood loss, damage to skins, debilitation), but usually even more in their role as vectors of pathogens They may cause great losses to the livestock industry, but , in tropical and subtropical. Corsica is a French island in the western part of the Mediterranean area, situated 15 km north of Sardinia and 90 km west of Tuscany in Italy (Fig. 1). Hunting and hiking are very popular and livestock farming is an important economic activity (sheep, goats, pigs and cattle); it is of an extensive type and animals are often in contact with wildlife In this context, important interactions occur between livestock, wildlife and humans in a small area, which certainly favours the circulation of TBPs, including zoonotic ones. Neither the local tick fauna nor the pathogens they transmit have been systematically investigated
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