Abstract
As a result of shifts in the habitable range of ticks due to climate change and the ongoing threat of exotic tick species introductions, efficient surveillance tools for these pests and disease vectors are needed. Wild pigs are habitat generalists, distributed throughout most of the United States, and often hunted recreationally or removed as part of management programs, making them potentially useful sentinel hosts for ticks. We compared ticks collected from captured wild pigs and standard tick dragging methods on a south-central Florida cattle ranch from May 2015–August 2017. Three hundred and sixteen wild pigs were surveyed, and 84 km spanning three habitat types (seminative pasture, improved pasture, and hammock) were dragged. In total, 1023 adults of four species (Amblyomma auricularium, Amblyomma maculatum, Dermacentor variabilis, and Ixodes scapularis) were collected from wild pigs, while 39 adults of three species (A. auricularium, A. maculatum, and I. scapularis) were collected from drags. Only one immature specimen, a nymph, was collected from a pig, while dragging collected 2808 larvae and 150 nymphs. Amblyomma maculatum comprised 96% of adults collected from pigs, while A. maculatum, I. scapularis, and A. auricularium comprised 38%, 33%, and 28% of adults collected from drags, respectively. Adults of all tick species found on drags were found on pigs, and wild pig surveillance detected adults of an additional species not found on drags. Dragging was far superior for collection of immatures but not for adults of most species found in this study. These findings suggest wild pigs could be used as a sentinel for the detection of tick species. When combined with ongoing wild pig research, hunting, or management, wild pig surveillance can provide an effective method to survey for adult tick presence of some species of interest and may assist in tracking the range expansion of some tick species.
Highlights
The need for proactive and efficient methods of surveillance for ticks is increasing
Amblyomma maculatum was the most commonly collected tick from both wild pigs and drags, accounting for 96% and 38% of total adults collected, respectively
We found wild pigs to be suitable sentinels for detection of adults of the four tick species collected in this survey of a south-central Florida cattle ranch
Summary
The need for proactive and efficient methods of surveillance for ticks is increasing. As a result of the changing climate and increased trade of domestic livestock, ticks and their associated pathogens are emerging in new locations and threatening the health of humans and animals (Barré and Uilenberg, 2010). Methods of tick surveillance include both environmental or host surveys (Estrada-Pena et al, 2013). Environmental surveys for host-seeking ticks are wide-ranging and include cloth dragging and flagging, walking surveys, surveys of animal nests, and carbon-dioxide-baited or other attractant-baited traps (Koch and McNew, 1981; Schulze et al, 1986, 1997; Ginsberg and Ewing, 1989; Petry et al, 2010; Cohnstaedt et al, 2012; Portugal and Goddard, 2015; Mays et al, 2016). Host sampling includes surveys of humans, companion animals, domestic livestock, and wild animals trapped for research or management or harvested by hunters (Ogden et al, 2006; Rand et al, 2007; Hamer et al, 2009; Cohnstaedt et al, 2012; Hertz et al, 2017; Mertins et al, 2017)
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