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Special Issue "Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases in Animals"

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A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Parasitology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2023 | Viewed by 3986

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Ángeles Sonia Olmeda

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Guest Editor

Department of Animal Health, Veterinary Faculty of UCM, Madrid, Spain
Interests: ticks; tick-borne pathogens; ecology; control
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Félix Valcárcel

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Animal Reproduction, INIA-CSIC, Madrid, Spain
Interests: ticks; tick-borne pathogens; ecology; control

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Tick-borne pathogens comprise a large and varied group of microorganisms belonging to widely separated taxa, from the smallest viruses to large nematodes. The common fact about them is that the main route of infection passes through a tick, in which they may remain in the same stage or may evolve and multiply enormously. Another common fact is that most of them do not produce a quick death or immediate severe consequences to the animals. Therefore, it is very common that some of them are underestimated in the medicine of domestic or wild animals.

The consequences of tick-borne pathogens are very varied given the differences between the type of microorganism, the competence or vectorial capacity of the tick species and the environment in which they develop. In fact, there are enormous differences in the tick-host-pathogen relationship depending on the ecosystem that allows or does not allow an adequate relationship between them, ensuring or not that the pathogen remains and survives in the tick and that the tick is capable of finding a host in a reasonable period of time to transmit it.

The control of tick-borne pathogens is mainly based on the administration of acaricides, whose efficacy is decreasing in many areas due to the development of resistance to them. Other interesting tools can be applied in tick control, such as host and ecosystem management, the study of new drugs, especially those based on natural products, vaccines, and many others. This Special Issue welcomes all these topics, including ecological studies which are the main step to design a reasonable tick and tick-borne diseases control strategy anywhere.

Dr. Ángeles Sonia Olmeda
Dr. Félix Valcárcel
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Microorganisms is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

tick ecology;

identification;

tick-borne pathogen;

vectorial role and capacity;

laboratory and field control;

new acaricides

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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Open AccessArticle

Features of Engorgement of Ixodes ricinus Ticks Infesting the Northern White-Breasted Hedgehog in an Urban Park

László Egyed

Dávidné Nagy

and

Zsolt Lang

Microorganisms 2023, 11(4), 881; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms11040881 - 29 Mar 2023

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Abstract

In this work we exploited the parallel dense tick and hedgehog populations of an urban park in Budapest, Hungary as a good host–parasite model to obtain detailed data about this physiological relationship. Over a 27-week period from April to October, 57 hedgehogs were captured in an urban park and kept for 10–14 days in animal house. All dropped off ticks were sampled, which allowed us to draw more a detailed picture of Ixodes ricinus–hedgehog relationships. The results indicated that the hedgehog is an effective host for ticks (prevalence: 100%) and the mean intensity of infestation was 83.25. Of the male ticks, 68.42% dropped off dead; 1.56% of the dropped off nymphs and 11.4% of the larvae finished their bloodmeal with red cuticles, while 5.79% of the females could not finish their blood meal, and dropped off dried, dead, or shrunken. We applied novel statistical methods of survival analysis of prevalent cohorts to estimate the whole attachment times of ticks from the observed attachment times, having no information about when the ticks attached to their hosts. Mean attachment times were 4 days for larvae, 5 days for nymphs, 10 days for females, and 8 days for males. On the first day after capture of the hosts, fewer females, nymphs, and larvae detached engorged than had been predicted, but this was not true for males. Mean intensity of infestation per host was 1.4 for males, 6.7 for females, 45.0 for nymphs, and 29.3 for larvae. As regards seasonality, the activity of all stages of ticks consisted of several smaller peaks and considerably differed by season. Studies of the dense tick–host populations of this natural habitat could provide further valuable data about tick–host relations, the data of which cannot be drawn from most other hedgehog habitats. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases in Animals)

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Open AccessArticle

Ticks and Tick-Borne Pathogens in Recreational Greenspaces in North Central Florida, USA

and

Microorganisms 2023, 11(3), 756; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms11030756 - 15 Mar 2023

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Abstract

Tick-borne infections are an increasing medical and veterinary concern in the southeastern United States, but there is limited understanding of how recreational greenspaces influence the hazard of pathogen transmission. This study aimed to estimate the potential human and companion animal encounter risk with different questing tick species, and the bacterial or protozoal agents they carry in recreational greenspaces. We collected ticks bimonthly along trails and designated recreational areas in 17 publicly accessible greenspaces, in and around Gainesville, Florida, USA. We collected Amblyomma americanum, Ixodes scapularis, Amblyomma maculatum, Dermacentor variabilis, Ixodes affinis, and Haemaphysalis leporispalustris. Across the six tick species collected, we detected 18 species of bacteria or protozoa within the Babesia, Borrelia, Cytauxzoon, Cryptoplasma (Allocryptoplasma), Ehrlichia, Hepatozoon, Rickettsia, and Theileria genera, including pathogens of medical or veterinary importance. While tick abundance and associated microorganism prevalence and richness were the greatest in natural habitats surrounded by forests, we found both ticks and pathogenic microorganisms in manicured groundcover. This relationship is important for public health and awareness, because it suggests that the probability of encountering an infected tick is measurable and substantial even on closely manicured turf or gravel, if the surrounding landcover is undeveloped. The presence of medically important ticks and pathogenic microorganisms in recreational greenspaces indicates that public education efforts regarding ticks and tick-borne diseases are warranted in this region of the United States. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases in Animals)

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Open AccessArticle

Pathogen Detection in Ornithodoros sonrai Ticks and Invasive House Mice Mus musculus domesticus in Senegal

Basma Ouarti

Moussa Sall

El Hadji Ibrahima Ndiaye

and

Microorganisms 2022, 10(12), 2367; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10122367 - 30 Nov 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 897

Abstract

Ornithodoros sonrai (O. sonrai) ticks are the only known vectors of Borrelia crocidurae, an agent of tick-borne relapsing fever (TBRF) borreliosis. Rodents serve as principal natural reservoirs for Borrelia. Our research objective was to detect TBRF Borrelia and other zoonotic bacterial infections in ticks and in house mice Mus musculus domesticus, an invasive species currently expanding in rural northern Senegal. Real-time and conventional PCR were utilized for detecting Borrelia and other bacterial taxa. The analyses were performed on 253 specimens of O. sonrai and 150 samples of brain and spleen tissue from rodents. Borrelia crocidurae was found in one O. sonrai tick and 18 Mus musculus domesticus samples, with prevalences of 0.39 percent and 12 percent, respectively, as well as Ehrlichia sp. in one Mus musculus domesticus. Further, we were able to detect the presence of a potentially infectious novel species belonging to the Anaplasmataceae family for the first time in O. sonrai ticks. More attention should be paid to the house mouse and O. sonrai ticks, as they can be potential hosts for novel species of pathogenic bacteria in humans. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases in Animals)

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Review

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Open AccessReview

The Biological and Ecological Features of Northbound Migratory Birds, Ticks, and Tick-Borne Microorganisms in the African–Western Palearctic

Tove Hoffman

Björn Olsen

and

Åke Lundkvist

Microorganisms 2023, 11(1), 158; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms11010158 - 07 Jan 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1105

Abstract

Identifying the species that act as hosts, vectors, and vehicles of vector-borne pathogens is vital for revealing the transmission cycles, dispersal mechanisms, and establishment of vector-borne pathogens in nature. Ticks are common vectors for pathogens causing human and animal diseases, and they transmit a greater variety of pathogenic agents than any other arthropod vector group. Ticks depend on the movements by their vertebrate hosts for their dispersal, and tick species with long feeding periods are more likely to be transported over long distances. Wild birds are commonly parasitized by ticks, and their migration patterns enable the long-distance range expansion of ticks. The African–Palearctic migration system is one of the world’s largest migrations systems. African–Western Palearctic birds create natural links between the African, European, and Asian continents when they migrate biannually between breeding grounds in the Palearctic and wintering grounds in Africa and thereby connect different biomes. Climate is an important geographical determinant of ticks, and with global warming, the distribution range and abundance of ticks in the Western Palearctic may increase. The introduction of exotic ticks and their microorganisms into the Western Palearctic via avian vehicles might therefore pose a greater risk for the public and animal health in the future. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases in Animals)

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