Ixodes ricinus abundance and its infection with the tick-borne pathogens in urban and suburban areas of Eastern Slovakia – ScienceOpen
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      Ixodes ricinus abundance and its infection with the tick-borne pathogens in urban and suburban areas of Eastern Slovakia

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          Abstract

          Background

          Raising abundance of ticks and tick-borne diseases in Europe is the result of multiple factors including climate changes and human activities. Herein, we investigated the presence and seasonal activity of Ixodes ricinus ticks from 10 urban and suburban sites in two different geographical areas of southeastern and northeastern Slovakia during 2008–2010. Our aim was to study the abundance of ticks in correlation with the environmental factors and their infection with Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Neoehrlichia mikurensis.

          Methods

          Questing I. ricinus ticks were collected from ten urban and suburban sites in Eastern Slovakia. A total of 670 ticks were further analysed for the presence of B. burgdorferi s.l., A. phagocytophilum and N. mikurensis by molecular methods. Tick site and environmental relations were analysed using General Linear Models (LM). The differences between the number of Lyme borreliosis cases between the Košice and Bardejov regions during a ten-year period were tested by Wilcoxon matched pairs test.

          Results

          In total, 2921 (1913 nymphs, 1008 adults) I. ricinus ticks were collected from 10 study sites during the main questing season. Tick activity and relative abundance differed between locations and months. Temperature and humidity were the main factors affecting the tick abundance and questing activity. Out of 670 examined ticks, 10.15% were infected with spirochetes from B. burgdorferi s.l. complex (represented by B. afzelii, B. garinii, B.valaisiana and B. burgdorferi s.s.), 2.69% with the A. phagocytophilum and 2.39% with N. mikurensis. The number of Lyme borreliosis cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the Bardejov region was significantly higher than in the Košice region.

          Conclusions

          Our data indicate that the risk of infection with tick-borne pathogens in Eastern Slovakia is common since 15.2% of ticks were infected at least with one of the tested microorganisms. Even though the abundance of ticks was affected by the microclimatic conditions and the prevalence of pathogens differed between the habitats, the infection risk for humans is also affected by human activities leading to an increased contact with infected ticks.

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          Most cited references35

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          On a Cercopithifilaria sp. transmitted by Rhipicephalus sanguineus: a neglected, but widespread filarioid of dogs

          Background This study was aimed at investigating the distribution of a Cercopithifilaria sp. sensu Otranto et al., 2011 with dermal microfilariae recently identified in a dog from Sicily (Italy). A large epidemiological survey was conducted by examining skin samples (n = 917) and ticks (n = 890) collected from dogs at different time points in Italy, central Spain and eastern Greece. Results The overall prevalence of Cercopithifilaria sp. in the sampled animal populations was 13.9% and 10.5% by microscopy of skin sediments and by PCR on skin samples, respectively. Up to 21.6% and 45.5% of dogs in Spain were positive by microscopical examination and by PCR. Cumulative incidence rates ranging from 7.7% to 13.9% were estimated in dogs from two sites in Italy. A low level of agreement between the two diagnostic tests (microscopical examination and PCR) was recorded in sites where samples were processed in parallel. Infestation rate as determined by tick dissection (from 5.2% to 16.7%) was higher than that detected by PCR (from 0% to 3.9%); tick infestation was significantly associated with Cercopithifilaria sp. infestation in dogs from two out of four sites. Developing larvae found in ticks were morphometrically studied and as many as 1469 larvae were found in a single tick. Conclusions Our data suggest that, in addition to the most common species of filarioids known to infest dogs (i.e., Dirofilaria immitis, Dirofilaria repens and Acanthocheilonema reconditum), Cercopithifilaria sp. with dermal microfilariae should be considered due to its widespread distribution in southern Europe and high frequency in tick-exposed dogs.
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            The natural history of Anaplasma phagocytophilum.

            Anaplasma phagocytophilum is the recently designated name replacing three species of granulocytic bacteria, Ehrlichia phagocytophila, Ehrlichia equi and the agent of human granulocytic ehrlichiosis, after the recent reorganization of the families Rickettsiaceae and Anaplasmataceae in the order Rickettsiales. Tick-borne fever (TBF), which is caused by the prototype of A. phagocytophilum, was first described in 1932 in Scotland. A similar disease caused by a related granulocytic agent was first described in horses in the USA in 1969; this was followed by the description of two distinct granulocytic agents causing similar diseases in dogs in the USA in 1971 and 1982. Until the discovery of human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA) in the USA in 1994, these organisms were thought to be distinct species of bacteria infecting specific domestic animals and free-living reservoirs. It is now widely accepted that the agents affecting different animal hosts are variants of the same Gram-negative obligatory intracellular bacterium, which is transmitted by hard ticks belonging to the Ixodes persulcatus complex. One of its fascinating features is that it infects and actively grows in neutrophils by employing an array of mechanisms to subvert their bactericidal activity. It is also able to survive within an apparently immune host by employing a complex mechanism of antigenic variation. Ruminants with TBF and humans with HGA develop severe febrile reaction, bacteraemia and leukopenia due to neutropenia, lymphocytopenia and thrombocytopenia within a week of exposure to a tick bite. Because of the severe haematological disorders lasting for several days and other adverse effects on the host's immune functions, infected animals and humans are more susceptible to other infections.
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              Influence of saturation deficit and temperature on Ixodes ricinus tick questing activity in a Lyme borreliosis-endemic area (Switzerland).

              Questing Ixodes ricinus ticks were sampled monthly in a periurban mixed forest at Neuchâtel, Switzerland, in 1996, 1997, and 1998. A total of 5,530 I. ricinus nymphs and 1,385 adults were collected. The emergence of questing tick populations in spring varied among years in relation to the air temperature. The monthly variation in questing nymph density was negatively correlated with the saturation deficit; there was a strong decrease in tick numbers in late spring and summer as soon as the saturation deficit increased. A variation in tick density in relation to the saturation deficit was also observed between years; the tick density was high when the saturation deficit was low during spring and summer (1997) and was low when the saturation deficit was high (1998). During the 3-year study period, marked climatic differences among years highlighted the influence of temperature and saturation deficit on the phenology of ticks.
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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Journal
                Parasit Vectors
                Parasit Vectors
                Parasites & Vectors
                BioMed Central
                1756-3305
                2013
                16 August 2013
                : 6
                : 238
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Institute of Parasitology SAS, Košice, Hlinkova 3 040 01, Slovakia
                [2 ]Institute of Zoology SAS, Bratislava, Dúbravská cesta 9 845 06, Slovakia
                [3 ]Slovak Hydrometeorogical Institute, Košice, Ďumbierska 26 041 17, Slovakia
                Article
                1756-3305-6-238
                10.1186/1756-3305-6-238
                3751762
                23952975
                950f6681-f18c-48b8-b930-bd28fc5067e1
                Copyright © 2013 Pangrácová et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

                This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

                History
                : 17 April 2013
                : 14 August 2013
                Categories
                Research

                Parasitology
                ixodes ricinus,borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato,anaplasma phagocytophilum,neoehrlichia mikurensis,pcr-rflp,lyme borreliosis,anaplasmosis

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