Haemaphysalis Concinna Research Articles

Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae), in contrast to ticks (Acari: Ixodidae), do not carry Francisella tularensis in a natural focus of tularemia in the Czech Republic.

In total, 9,167 mosquitoes (Aedes spp.) and 1,987 ixodid ticks--1,423 Dermacentor reticulatus (F.), 504 Ixodes ricinus (L.), and 60 Haemaphysalis concinna Koch--were examined in an active enzootic focus (floodplain forest-meadow ecosystem) of tularemia in South Moravia. Czech Republic. Although no F. tularensis was detected in mosquitoes or H. concinna, 30 isolates were recovered from D. reticulatus (infection rate, 2.1%) and 1 isolate from I. ricinus (infection rate, 0.2%). Ixodid ticks, especially D. reticulatus, but not mosquitoes serve as vectors (and perhaps reservoirs) of F. tularensis at this natural focus.

Borreliae in immature Ixodes ricinus (Acari:Ixodidae) ticks parasitizing birds in the Czech Republic.

Of 411 forest birds of 33 species examined near Valtice, Czech Republic, 29% were infested with Ixodes ricinus (L.); 2.2% were parasitized by Haemaphysalis concinna Koch. Borreliae were detected in 5.1 and 11.7% of larval and nymphal I. ricinus, respectively. None of the 13 H. concinna tested was infected. In total, 3.2% of the birds examined were parasitized by I. ricinus immatures infected by borreliae. Borreliae-containing ticks parasitized European robin, Erithacus rubecula (L.); Eurasian blackbird, Turdus merula L.; Blackcap, Sylvia atricapilla (L.); Eurasian chiffchaff, Phylloscopus collybita (Vieillot); Great tit, Parus major L.; and Eurasian jay, Garrulus glandarius (L.). The isolate BR-34 from a nymphal I. ricinus off a Eurasian blackbird had a sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis protein pattern, reactions to monoclonal antibodies, and fragments of HindIII digested DNA probed with fla and ospA genes that suggested to us that it belongs to the genospecies Borrelia garinii. Free-living birds may be involved in the circulation of B. burgdorferi sensu lato principally as disseminators of infected ixodid ticks to new area.

Frequent isolation of Francisella tularensis from Dermacentor reticulatus ticks in an enzootic focus of tularaemia.

A total of 924 questing Dermacentor reticulatus (Fabricius), 504 Ixodes ricinus (L.), sixty Haemaphysalis concinna Koch and 718 mosquitoes (Aedes spp.) were examined in a floodplain forest ecosystem during the 1994-95 outbreak of tularaemia in South Moravia, Czech Republic. Francisella tularensis was not isolated from H.concinna ticks or Aedes spp. mosquitoes, whereas twenty-one isolates were recovered from the other haematophagous arthropods. Dermacentor reticulatus revealed a significantly higher infection rate (2.6%) than I.ricinus (0.2%). This tick species acts as principal vector for tularaemia in the enzootic focus. Monitoring of D.reticulatus for F.tularensis thus seems to be a very efficient approach in the surveillance of tularaemia in the flood-plain forest ecosystems of Europe.

Prevalence of ticks infected withFrancisella tularensis in natural foci of tularemia in western Slovakia

The prevalence of ticks infected with F. tularensis was followed during a systematic surveillance in endemic area of tularemia in western Slovakia over the years 1984-93. Ticks were collected from vegetation in localities of Podunajské Biskupice, in the vicinity of the capital of Slovakia, Bratislava, near the river Danube. In total 6033 ticks, mostly adults of Dermacentor reticulatus and Ixodes ricinus (4994 and 1004, respectively) and 35 nymphs of Haemaphysalis concinna, were examined for the presence of F. tularensis. Out of 4542 starving ticks, 34 F. tularensis strains were isolated predominantly from D. reticulatus (30), and to a smaller extent also from I. ricinus (3) and H. concinna (1). Natural infection with F. tularensis was further proved from 1491 adults of D. reticulatus fed on laboratory animals, rabbits and white mice, together in 27 cases. From that, 21 times it was by positive isolation either from suspensions of partly or fully engorged ticks and their feaces, or from spleens of animals dead after the feeding of ticks. In addition, solely the development of antibodies against the agent was confirmed in 6 rabbit hosts. The presence of F. tularensis in all the above mentioned tick species and namely the relatively high and permanent infestation of D. reticulatus adults, ranging between 0.5-2% during the followed time period, demonstrated the maintenance of active natural focus of tularemia in the area under study. The present paper also emphasizes the epidemiologic consequence of various species of ticks in endemic foci of tularemia and the aspect of possible ways of transmission of the agent to humans.

Tick infection rates with Borrelia Ixodes ricinus versus Haemaphysalis concinna and Dermacentor reticulatus in two locations in eastern Germany

Unfed nymphal Ixodes ricinus, Haemaphysalis concinna, and adult Dermacentor reticulatus were collected in two locations of Saxony in July and September 1991 by flagging. In July, the abundance of nymphal I. ricinus was about 2-3 times higher than that of nymphal H. concinna, a time of the year when nymphs of both species are reported to have a seasonal peak of activity. No D. reticulatus were flagged concurrently. In September, host-seeking activity of nymphal I. ricinus was again quite high as was that of adult D. reticulatus but only low numbers of nymphal H. concinna were collected. The flagged ticks were individually examined for Borrelia by an indirect immunofluorescence assay (I. ricinus: n = 414; H. concinna: n = 96; D. reticulatus: n = 116). The prevalence of Borrelia (probably B. burgdorferi) in I. ricinus varied from 12.1% to 21.0%. No borreliae were found in H. concinna. Of the examined D. reticulatus from one site (n = 97) 11.3% contained either B. burgdorferi or a related Borrelia. This may be the first finding of Borrelia in an Eurasian Dermacentor species.

Extensive examination of different tick species for infestation with Coxiella burnetii in Slovakia

Between 1987-1989 almost 7000 adult Ixodes ricinus, Dermacentor reticulatus, Dermacentor marginatus, Haemaphysalis concinna, Haemaphysalis punctata and Haemaphysalis inermis ticks collected in all 38 districts of Slovakia were screened for the presence of Coxiella burnettii. The proportion of ticks containing C. burnetii as indicated by the haemocyte test was less than 3%. Attempts to recover C. burnetii by inoculation of yolk sacs of embryonated hen eggs from pools of 1-6 specimens of haemocyte test positive ticks resulted in the isolation of 10 rickettsial strains. Six strains were recovered from I. ricinus, the remaining ones from single pools of D. reticulatus, D. marginatus. H. concinna and H. inermis ticks. In addition to the previous recovery of C. burnetii from H. punctata ticks, the agent was thus isolated from all important ticks living in Slovakia. The agent was found in tick habitats regardless of the latitude and altitude in the entire country. These results are not consistent with the negligible number of Q fever cases occurring in past years in Slovakia.

Ticks (Ixodoidea) on migrating birds in Cyprus, fall 1967 and spring 1968, and epidemiological considerations

AbstractMore or less cursory examination of migrating birds in Cyprus revealed 115 of 2580 southward (fall) migrants and 177 of 22015 northward (spring) migrants to be infested by 167 and 797 ticks, respectively. Most ticks on fall migrants wereHyalomma marginatum marginatumKoch; others wereIxodes frontalis(Panz.), I.ricinus(L.),Haemaphysalis concinnaKoch, andH. punctataC. & F., all representative of the Eurasian fauna. Most ticks on spring migrants wereH. m. rufipesKoch; others wereAmblyomma lepidumDön.,A. nuttalliDön., andA. variegatum(F.), representative of sub-Saharan Africa, andArgas streptopeliaKaiser, Hoogst. & Horner,Ixodes eldaricusDzhaparidze, and I.redikorzeviOlen. which probably attached to the hosts in the eastern Mediterranean area. In Africa and Eurasia, 16 arboviruses have been recorded from eight of these tick species, and also the agents of boutonneuse fever, Siberian tick typhus, Q fever, and tularaemia. The epidemiological potential of migrating birds is enhanced by the multiplicity of pathogens that may infect them and the biological diversity of ticks that may infest them. The remarkably wide distribution of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus in Africa and Eurasia is likely to be due to intercontinental carriage of the virus and ticks by migrating birds.

The ecology, bionomics and behaviour of Haemaphysalis (Haemaphysalis) concinna tick.

Haemaphysalis (Haemaphysalis) concinna tick is widely distributed species in the forests of temperate Eurasia. Its distribution in temperate zone is confined to the deciduous and mixed forests to the relatively humid places, lake coasts and river basins. It is known from France, Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Roumania and Balkan Peninsula, southern republics of the USSR.

Some Notes On the Feeding of Flesh to Farrowing Sows and the Habits of Pigs

To study Babesia diversity in Ixodid ticks in Russia, Ixodes persulcatus, Haemaphysalis japonica, Haemaphysalis concinna, Dermacentor silvarum, and Dermacentor nuttalli ticks collected in the Far East and Baikal region were assayed for the presence of Babesia spp. using nested PCR. In total, Babesia DNA was detected in 30 of the 1125 (2.7%) I. persulcatus, 17 of the 573 (3.0%) H. concinna, and 12 of the 543 (2.2%) H. japonica but was undetectable in any of the 294 analyzed Dermacentor spp. Partial 18S rRNA gene sequences were determined for all of the positive samples. Among the positive ticks, nine I. persulcatus were infected by Babesia microti ‘US’-type, five I. persulcatus were infected by Babesia divergens-like parasites, and 11 I. persulcatus were infected by Babesia venatorum. For all three of these species, the determined 18S rRNA gene sequences were identical to those of the Babesia genetic variants found previously in I. persulcatus in Russia. In addition, five I. persulcatus from the Baikal region and all of the positive Haemaphysalis spp. ticks carried 13 different sequence variants of Babesia sensu stricto belonging to distinct phylogenetic clusters. Babesia spp. from 29 ticks of different species collected in distinct locations belonged to the cluster of cattle and ovine parasites (Babesia crassa, Babesia major, Babesia motasi, Babesia bigemina, etc.). Babesia spp. from four H. japonica ticks in the Far East belonged to the cluster formed by parasites of carnivores. One more Babesia sequence variant detected in an I. persulcatus tick from the Baikal region belonged to the cluster formed by parasites of cattle and wild cervids (B. divergens, Babesia capreoli, B. venatorum, Babesia odocoilei, etc.).

Tubercle Bacilli in Cows’ Milk as a Possible Source of Tuberculosis Disease in Man.

To study Babesia diversity in Ixodid ticks in Russia, Ixodes persulcatus, Haemaphysalis japonica, Haemaphysalis concinna, Dermacentor silvarum, and Dermacentor nuttalli ticks collected in the Far East and Baikal region were assayed for the presence of Babesia spp. using nested PCR. In total, Babesia DNA was detected in 30 of the 1125 (2.7%) I. persulcatus, 17 of the 573 (3.0%) H. concinna, and 12 of the 543 (2.2%) H. japonica but was undetectable in any of the 294 analyzed Dermacentor spp. Partial 18S rRNA gene sequences were determined for all of the positive samples. Among the positive ticks, nine I. persulcatus were infected by Babesia microti ‘US’-type, five I. persulcatus were infected by Babesia divergens-like parasites, and 11 I. persulcatus were infected by Babesia venatorum. For all three of these species, the determined 18S rRNA gene sequences were identical to those of the Babesia genetic variants found previously in I. persulcatus in Russia. In addition, five I. persulcatus from the Baikal region and all of the positive Haemaphysalis spp. ticks carried 13 different sequence variants of Babesia sensu stricto belonging to distinct phylogenetic clusters. Babesia spp. from 29 ticks of different species collected in distinct locations belonged to the cluster of cattle and ovine parasites (Babesia crassa, Babesia major, Babesia motasi, Babesia bigemina, etc.). Babesia spp. from four H. japonica ticks in the Far East belonged to the cluster formed by parasites of carnivores. One more Babesia sequence variant detected in an I. persulcatus tick from the Baikal region belonged to the cluster formed by parasites of cattle and wild cervids (B. divergens, Babesia capreoli, B. venatorum, Babesia odocoilei, etc.).