New localities of Dermacentor reticulatus ticks in the Baltic countries

Paulauskas, Algimantas; Radzijevskaja, Jana; Mardosaitė-Busaitienė, Dalytė; Aleksandravičienė, Asta; Galdikas, Matas; Krikštolaitis, Ričardas

doi:10.1016/j.ttbdis.2015.05.007

Cited by 49 publications

(32 citation statements)

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“…In urban areas, small city parks are usually unfavourable locations for ticks (Földvári et al 2011; Rizzoli et al 2014; Paulauskas et al 2015), e.g. Lake Kortowskie in Olsztyn, where no specimens of this species were collected, although this location presents a typical habitat for D. reticulatus .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Until the 1980s the range of D. reticulatus was clearly divided between West-European and Eastern populations with an area from the Baltic Sea coast through central Germany, western Poland to the southern border of Hungary (Karbowiak 2014) where the meadow tick had never been reported. Nowadays, D. reticulatus shows a tendency of expansion into new areas in Germany (Dautel et al 2006), Poland (Karbowiak and Kiewra 2010; Nowak 2011; Kiewra and Czulowska 2013; Mierzejewska et al 2016), Slovakia (Bullová et al 2009), the Czech Republic (Široký et al 2011), Lithuania, Latvia (Paulauskas et al 2015) and Romania (Chitimia-Dobler 2015) and has also been observed in countries of western Europe in locations where it had not been reported previously (Jongejan et al 2015). The spread of D. reticulatus is influenced by many factors including climate changes due to global warming, changes in the way of using green areas, which contributes to the increase in the number and diversity of hosts as well as the development of tourism and transport between countries (Karbowiak 2014; Mierzejewska et al 2017; Kloch et al 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dermacentor reticulatus ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) distribution in north-eastern Poland: an endemic area of tick-borne diseases

et al. 2018

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Dermacentor reticulatus is the second most important tick species in Poland. Although the north-eastern region of Poland is considered typical for D. reticulatus and is treated as a contiguous area of Eastern populations of the meadow ticks, the occurrence of this tick species in this region to date has been recorded as separate foci. The present report supplements data on the geographical distribution of D. reticulatus in urban and natural biotopes of north-eastern Poland (Warmia and Mazury province). In 2015–2017 (during the springtime activity of ticks) adult questing D. reticulatus were found in 13 of 25 monitored localities. Six sites are located in urbanized areas, within the administrative borders of the city of Olsztyn and seven sites are in natural biotopes in the central part of Warmia and Mazury. A total of 398 adult D. reticulatus ticks, including 257 females and 141 males, were collected. A comparison of data grouped according to urban and natural type of area revealed no statistical differences between them. Taking into account the habitat type, the mean tick density was the highest in open landscapes. The identification of new foci D. reticulatus in the endemic areas of Lyme borreliosis, tick-borne encephalitis and canine babesiosis is crucial for determining the risk of diseases transmitted by ticks and taking proper preventive measures.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dermacentor reticulatus ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) distribution in north-eastern Poland: an endemic area of tick-borne diseases

et al. 2018

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“…Recently, the geographic area where piroplasmids have been detected in ticks and cases of babesiosis have been recognized has expanded and new species of Babesia have been found [ 23 – 25 ]. Therefore, local investigations are essential to assess the emergence of new parasites and the potential risk of human and animal diseases.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Babesia spp. in ticks and wildlife in different habitat types of Slovakia

et al. 2016

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BackgroundBabesiosis is an emerging and potentially zoonotic disease caused by tick-borne piroplasmids of the Babesia genus. New genetic variants of piroplasmids with unknown associations to vectors and hosts are recognized. Data on the occurrence of Babesia spp. in ticks and wildlife widen the knowledge on the geographical distribution and circulation of piroplasmids in natural foci. Questing and rodent-attached ticks, rodents, and birds were screened for the presence of Babesia-specific DNA using molecular methods. Spatial and temporal differences of Babesia spp. prevalence in ticks and rodents from two contrasting habitats of Slovakia with sympatric occurrence of Ixodes ricinus and Haemaphysalis concinna ticks and co-infections of Candidatus N. mikurensis and Anaplasma phagocytophilum were investigated.ResultsBabesia spp. were detected in 1.5 % and 6.6 % of questing I. ricinus and H. concinna, respectively. Prevalence of Babesia-infected I. ricinus was higher in a natural than an urban/suburban habitat. Phylogenetic analysis showed that Babesia spp. from I. ricinus clustered with Babesia microti, Babesia venatorum, Babesia canis, Babesia capreoli/Babesia divergens, and Babesia odocoilei. Babesia spp. amplified from H. concinna segregated into two monophyletic clades, designated Babesia sp. 1 (Eurasia) and Babesia sp. 2 (Eurasia), each of which represents a yet undescribed novel species. The prevalence of infection in rodents (with Apodemus flavicollis and Myodes glareolus prevailing) with B. microti was 1.3 % in an urban/suburban and 4.2 % in a natural habitat. The majority of infected rodents (81.3 %) were positive for spleen and blood and the remaining for lungs and/or skin. Rodent-attached I. ricinus (accounting for 96.3 %) and H. concinna were infected with B. microti, B. venatorum, B. capreoli/B. divergens, Babesia sp. 1 (Eurasia), and Babesia sp. 2 (Eurasia). All B. microti and B. venatorum isolates were identical to known zoonotic strains from Europe. Less than 1.0 % of Babesia-positive ticks and rodents carried Candidatus N. mikurensis or A. phagocytophilum.ConclusionOur findings suggest that I. ricinus and rodents play important roles in the epidemiology of zoonotic Babesia spp. in south-western Slovakia. Associations with vertebrate hosts and the pathogenicity of Babesia spp. infecting H. concinna ticks need to be further explored.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13071-016-1560-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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“…Acta Veterinaria Hungarica 65, 2017 Dermacentor reticulatus (Ixodida: Ixodidae) can be regarded as one of the most important tick species in Europe, taking into account its widespread occurrence and emerging significance in western and eastern countries of the continent (Jongejan et al, 2015;Paulauskas et al, 2015), its high abundance in Central Europe (Hornok and Farkas, 2009) and its potential to bite humans (Estrada-Peña and Jongejan, 1999). Among other zoonotic pathogens, D. reticulatus is known to be a carrier and/or vector of several Rickettsia spp., including R. raoultii, R. slovaca (Spitalská et al, 2012) and R. helvetica (Dobec et al, 2009).…”

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confidence: 99%

Seasonally biased or single-habitat sampling is not informative on the real prevalence of Dermacentor reticulatus-borne rickettsiae — A pilot study

Hornok

Meli

Gönczi

et al. 2017

Acta Veterinaria Hungarica

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Dermacentor reticulatus is a tick species of high medical and veterinary importance, emerging in several parts of Europe. Up to now most studies focusing on zoonotic rickettsiae in D. reticulatus were based on ticks collected in a limited part of the questing period, and did not take into account the potential seasonal variations in the rate of infection with tick-borne rickettsiae. The aim of the present study was to investigate the latter phenomenon, i.e. to screen D. reticulatus adults, collected monthly in two urban habitats of Budapest, for the presence of three zoonotic Rickettsia spp. Altogether 852 D. reticulatus adults were collected, which showed significantly similar seasonal activity in the two evaluated habitats. Among the 413 molecularly analysed ticks, R. helvetica-infected D. reticulatus were only collected during autumn in habitat-1, in contrast to habitat-2. The overall prevalence of R. raoultii in D. reticulatus adults was significantly higher in habitat-1 than in habitat-2. In addition, the seasonal distribution of R. raoultiiinfected ticks was different between the two habitats (in habitat-2 significantly more R. raoultii-infected ticks were collected in the autumn, in comparison with winter and spring). Rickettsia slovaca was not detected in any of the molecularly analysed ticks. The results clearly indicate that a single-time or seasonally biased collection of D. reticulatus adults and their subsequent molecular analysis may not be informative on the real prevalence of rickettsiae. This is because the availability/activity of infected ticks shows significant seasonal fluctuations, both within and between habitats. Instead, for screening D. reticulatus-borne rickettsiae, it is important to collect monthly samples and then to assess seasonal prevalence and actual habitat-associated eco-epidemiological risks.

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New localities of Dermacentor reticulatus ticks in the Baltic countries

Cited by 49 publications

References 22 publications

Dermacentor reticulatus ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) distribution in north-eastern Poland: an endemic area of tick-borne diseases

Dermacentor reticulatus ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) distribution in north-eastern Poland: an endemic area of tick-borne diseases

Babesia spp. in ticks and wildlife in different habitat types of Slovakia

Seasonally biased or single-habitat sampling is not informative on the real prevalence of Dermacentor reticulatus-borne rickettsiae — A pilot study

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