Ticks (Ixodidae) on humans in South America

Abstract

Twenty eight species of Ixodidae have been found on man in South America (21 Amblyomma, 1 Boophilus, 2 Dermacentor, 2 Haemaphysalis, 1 Ixodes and 1 Rhipicephalus species). Most of them are rarely found on man. However, three species frequently parasitize humans in restricted areas of Argentina (A. neumanni reported from 46 localities), Uruguay (A. triste from 21 sites) and Argentina-Brazil (A. parvum from 27 localities). The most widespread ticks are A. cajennense (134 localities in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Suriname and Venezuela), A. ovale (37 localities in Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Suriname and Venezuela) and A. oblongoguttatum (28 sites in Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname and Venezuela). Amblyomma aureolatum (18 localities in Argentina, Brazil, French Guiana and Paraguay), A. cajennense, and A. triste are vectors of rickettsioses to man in South America. A better understanding of the respective roles of these and other tick species in transmitting pathogens to humans will require further local investigations. Amblyomma ticks should be the main subjects of these studies followed by species of Boophilus, Dermacentor, Haemaphysalis and Rhipicephalus species. In contrast with North America, Europe and Asia, ticks of the genus Ixodes do not appear to be major players in transmitting diseases to human. Indeed, there is only one record of an Ixodes collected while feeding on man for all South America.

Spotted fever group Rickettsia infecting ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil

“…Therefore, our results highlight the possibility that the spotted fevers in SC have been caused by R. parkeri strain Atlantic rainforest, a hypothesis yet to be confirmed by identification of this agent in human clinical samples. Although this hypothesis has not been confirmed, it is noteworthy that we found the pathogenic strain Atlantic rainforest in SC, where it is potentially transmitted to humans by the ticks A. ovale and A. aureolatum; this second species is also an important human-biting tick in Brazil (Guglielmone et al 2006). Interestingly, another pathogenic strain of R. parkeri is transmitted by the tick Amblyomma triste in Uruguay and Argentina (Venzal et al 2004, Romer et al 2011; however, this tick species is not known to be present in SC.…”

“…In addition, in SP, Sabatini et al (2010) reported that the Atlantic rainforest strain was present in 13.6% and 1.9% of A. ovale and R. sanguineus ticks, respectively, collected from dogs, and in 8.8% of A. ovale ticks collected from vegetation. Because A. ovale is an important human-biting tick (Guglielmone et al 2006), it was suggested to be a vector for the transmission of the Atlantic rainforest strain to humans (Sabatini et al 2010).…”

Occurrence of Ehrlichia canis in free-living primates of the genus Callithrix

“…This close association could facilitate the transmission of ehrlichiosis to humans through brown tick bites, R. sanguineus, from domestic dogs, and its parasitism on humans has been reported in South America (GUGLIELMONE et al, 2006). These ticks occasionally infest wild animals (DANTAS-TORRES et al, 2010).…”

Controle de Rhipicephalus sanguineus (Latreille, 1806) (Acari: Ixodidae) no canil da Escola de Veterinária da UFMG, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brasil

“…Infestações de R. sanguineus em humanos foram notificadas nos seguintes municípios do Brasil: Goiana, GO, Recife, PE, Pedreira, SP e Cachoeira do Sul, RS (GUGLIELMONE et al, 2006). Assim, por se desenvolver em ambientes sinantrópicos de várias cidades do país, onde ocorre em alta densidade e prevalência, este carrapato poderá vir a causar aumento na incidência de Erliquiose, Babesiose e Febre Maculosa, como antropozoonoses emergentes (FERNANDES et al, 2001).…”

“…The control procedure proposed in the present study was an emergency measure and its effectiveness was checked through environmental surveys throughout a one-year period. A espécie R. sanguineus tem sido encontrada em alta prevalência em cães urbanos, sendo descrita na literatura como uma das principais espécies de parasitos destes animais domésticos (LINARDI; NAGEM, 1973;LABRUNA;PEREI-RA, 2001;SZABÓ et al, 2001;GONZÁLEZ et al, 2004;SOARES et al, 2006). Está comprovadamente envolvida na transmissão de agentes patogênicos, destacando -se entre estes: Babesia canis e Eherlichia canis (GOTHE et al,1989;SMITH et al, 1976).…”