Medical and Veterinary Entomology最新文献

{"title":"Ornithomya biloba, Pseudolynchia garzettae and Pseudolynchia canariensis (Diptera: Hippoboscidae): three new United Kingdom colonists and potential disease vectors","authors":"Denise C. Wawman","doi":"10.1111/mve.12703","DOIUrl":"10.1111/mve.12703","url":null,"abstract":"<p>In the northern hemisphere, many species' ranges are shifting northwards with climate change. Here I present evidence, from the first large-scale citizen science study of the Hippoboscidae in the United Kingdom, for the colonisation of the United Kingdom by three species of Diptera in the family Hippoboscidae, which are obligate ectoparasites of birds. The Swallow Louse Fly, <i>Ornithomya biloba</i>; the Nightjar Louse Fly, <i>Pseudolynchia garzettae</i> and the Pigeon Louse Fly, <i>Pseudolynchia canariensis</i> were previously considered to be vagrants from more southerly latitudes but the presence of a pair taken possibly in the act of copulation, gravid females and the increase in numbers of the various species provides good evidence of local breeding activity. I discuss the potential for further northwards range shift and whether the presence of three new species of parasite may have implications for the spread of avian disease within the region. I also include a concise key to the genus <i>Pseudolynchia</i> and images of <i>P. canariensis</i>, <i>P. garzettae</i> and <i>O. biloba</i> to aid further identification of these species in the region.</p>","PeriodicalId":18350,"journal":{"name":"Medical and Veterinary Entomology","volume":"38 2","pages":"160-171"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/mve.12703","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138498823","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"How to repel a killer; chemical identification and effective repellent activity of commercial essential oils against kissing bugs","authors":"Azhary Rito-Rueda,&nbsp;Juan Eduardo Flores-Jiménez,&nbsp;Ana Erika Gutiérrez-Cabrera,&nbsp;Samuel Cruz-Esteban,&nbsp;Alex Córdoba-Aguilar,&nbsp;Leopoldo Cruz-López,&nbsp;David Alavez-Rosas","doi":"10.1111/mve.12702","DOIUrl":"10.1111/mve.12702","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Triatomines are haematophagous insects, some species are vectors of <i>Trypanosoma cruzi</i>, the aetiological agent of Chagas disease. The main strategy for interrupting <i>T. cruzi</i> transmission is to avoid contact of the vector populations with humans. Volatiles from commercial essential oils are excellent candidates to serve as repellents of kissing bugs. We used an exposure device to assess the repellence effect of eight commercial essential oils on <i>Triatoma pallidipennis.</i> The most effective oils were blended and evaluated against <i>T. infestans</i>, <i>T. pallidipennis</i> and <i>Rhodnius prolixus</i>. The blend was also evaluated on parasitised <i>T. pallidipennis</i>. Data were compared with the commercial repellent NN-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide. We recorded the time the insects spent in the proximity of the host and determined if any of the evaluated oils served as kissing bug repellent. We found commercial essential oils and a blend that significantly reduced the time spent in the proximity of the host. The blend was effective for use by human males and females, repelling infected and non-infected insects. The study of essential oils as repellents of blood-sucking disease-vector insects could shed light on the development of new control strategies.</p>","PeriodicalId":18350,"journal":{"name":"Medical and Veterinary Entomology","volume":"38 2","pages":"148-159"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-11-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138440867","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Trypanosoma cruzi infection reduces the population fitness of Mepraia spinolai, a Chagas disease vector","authors":"Sophie de Bona,&nbsp;Hsin Chi,&nbsp;Ramiro O. Bustamante,&nbsp;Carezza Botto-Mahan","doi":"10.1111/mve.12700","DOIUrl":"10.1111/mve.12700","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The hematophagous insect <i>Mepraia spinolai</i> (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Triatominae) is naturally infected with the protozoan parasite <i>Trypanosoma cruzi</i>, the agent of Chagas disease in humans. In this study, we compared the demographic parameters of <i>M. spinolai</i> with and without <i>T. cruzi</i> infection. We collected the immature life table data of 479 <i>M. spinolai</i> individuals of control cohort (reared on mice without <i>T. cruzi</i> infection) and 563 <i>M. spinolai</i> individuals of treatment cohort (reared on mice with <i>T. cruzi</i> infection). Nymphs were maintained in individual compartments inside a growth chamber (26°C; 65–75%) until adult emergence; moulting and survival were recorded daily. For the adult life table study of the control, we used 24 pairs of adults from the control cohort. For the adult life table study of <i>T. cruzi</i>-infected cohort, 25 infected females were paired with 25 males from the control cohort. Life table data were analysed using bootstrap-match technique based on the age-stage, two-sex life table. The preadult survival rate (0.5282) of the control cohort was significantly higher than that of the infected cohort (0.2913). However, the mean fecundity of reproductive females (<i>F</i>_<i>r</i> = 22.29 eggs/♀) and net reproductive rate of population (<i>R</i>₀ = 5.07 offspring/individual) of the 0.5th percentile bootstrap-match control cohort were not significantly different from those of the infected cohort (<i>F</i>_<i>r</i> = 23.35 eggs/♀, <i>R</i>₀ = 3.77 offspring/individual). Due to the shorter total preoviposition period and higher proportion of reproductive female, the intrinsic rate of increase (<i>r</i> = 0.0053 d⁻¹) and finite rate of increase (λ = 1.0053 d⁻¹) of control cohort of <i>M. spinolai</i> were significantly higher than those of the <i>T. cruzi</i>-infected cohort (<i>r</i> = 0.0035 d⁻¹, λ = 1.0035 d⁻¹). These results suggest that <i>T. cruzi</i> infection reduces the population fitness of the Chagas disease vector <i>M. spinolai.</i></p>","PeriodicalId":18350,"journal":{"name":"Medical and Veterinary Entomology","volume":"38 1","pages":"73-82"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-10-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"50158305","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Molecular and morphometric study of Brazilian populations of Psychodopygus davisi","authors":"Bruno Leite Rodrigues,&nbsp;Glaucilene da Silva Costa,&nbsp;Rodrigo Espíndola Godoy,&nbsp;Antonio Marques Pereira Júnior,&nbsp;Wilsandrei Cella,&nbsp;Gabriel Eduardo Melim Ferreira,&nbsp;Jansen Fernandes de Medeiros,&nbsp;Paloma Helena Fernandes Shimabukuro","doi":"10.1111/mve.12701","DOIUrl":"10.1111/mve.12701","url":null,"abstract":"<p>In this study, we analysed the molecular and morphometric differences of several populations of the putative sand fly vector <i>Psychodopygus davisi</i> (Root, 1934) (Diptera, Psychodidae, Phlebotominae) in Brazil. We amplified the 658 base pair fragments of the DNA barcoding region—cytochrome <i>c</i> oxidase subunit 1 (<i>COI</i>) gene—for 57 specimens of <i>P. davisi</i> and three specimens of <i>Psychodopygus claustrei</i> (Abonnenc, Léger &amp; Fauran, 1979). We merged our data with public sequences of the same species available from GenBank. Then, the combined dataset—87 sequences and 20 localities—was analysed using population structure analysis and different species delimitation approaches. Geometric morphometry of wings was performed for 155 specimens of <i>P. davisi</i> populations from the North, Midwest and Southeast Brazilian regions, analysing the differences in centroid sizes and canonical variates. Molecular analysis indicated high intraspecific genetic distance values for <i>P. davisi</i> (maximum <i>p</i> distance = 5.52%). All algorithms identified <i>P. davisi</i> and <i>P. claustrei</i> as distinct molecular taxonomic units, despite the low interspecific distance (<i>p</i> distance to the nearest neighbour = 4.79%). <i>P. davisi</i> sequences were split into four genetic clusters by population structure analysis and at least five genetic lineages using intermediate scenarios of the species delimitation algorithms. The species validation analysis of BPP strongly supported the five-species model in our dataset. We found high genetic diversity in this taxon, which is in agreement with its wide geographic distribution in Brazil. Furthermore, the wing analysis showed that specimens from the Southeast Region of Brazil are different from those in the North and the Midwest. The evolutionary patterns of <i>P. davisi</i> populations in Brazil suggest the presence of candidate species, which need to be validated in future studies using a more comprehensive approach with both genomic data and morphological characters.</p>","PeriodicalId":18350,"journal":{"name":"Medical and Veterinary Entomology","volume":"38 1","pages":"83-98"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-10-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49691348","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mitochondrial genome sequence comparisons indicate that the elephant louse Haematomyzus elephantis (Piaget, 1869) contains cryptic species","authors":"Sarah Kelly,&nbsp;Yalun Dong,&nbsp;Wei Wang,&nbsp;Sonja Matthee,&nbsp;Jeanette M. Wentzel,&nbsp;Lance A. Durden,&nbsp;Renfu Shao","doi":"10.1111/mve.12699","DOIUrl":"10.1111/mve.12699","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The parvorder Rhynchopthirina contains three currently recognised species of lice that parasitize elephants (both African savanna elephant <i>Loxodonta africana</i> and Asian elephant <i>Elephas maximus</i>), desert warthogs (<i>Phacochoerus aethiopicus</i>) and Red River hogs (<i>Potamochoerus porcus</i>), respectively. The Asian elephant lice and the African savanna elephant lice are currently treated as the same species, <i>Haematomyzus elephantis</i> (Piaget, 1869), based on morphology despite the fact that their hosts diverged 8.4 million years ago. In the current study, we sequenced 23 mitochondrial (mt) genes of African savanna elephant lice collected in South Africa and analysed the sequence divergence between African savanna elephant lice and previously sequenced Asian elephant lice. Sequence comparisons revealed &gt;23% divergence for the 23 mt genes as a whole and ~17% divergence for <i>cox1</i> gene between African savanna and Asian elephant lice, which were far higher than the divergence expected within a species. Furthermore, the mt gene sequence divergences between these lice are 3.76–4.6 times higher than that between their hosts, the African savanna and Asian elephants, which are expected for the co-divergence and co-evolution between lice and their elephant hosts. We conclude that (1) <i>H. elephantis</i> (Piaget, 1869) contains cryptic species and (2) African savanna and Asian elephant lice are different species genetically that may have co-diverged and co-evolved with their hosts.</p>","PeriodicalId":18350,"journal":{"name":"Medical and Veterinary Entomology","volume":"38 1","pages":"112-117"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-10-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/mve.12699","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41236648","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"An investigation of the acaricidal activity of benzyl alcohol on Rhipicephalus annulatus and Rhipicephalus sanguineus and its synergistic or antagonistic interaction with commonly used acaricides","authors":"Shawky M. Aboelhadid,&nbsp;Samar M. Ibrahium,&nbsp;Abdel-Azeem S. Abdel-Baki,&nbsp;Khaled M. Hassan,&nbsp;Waleed M. Arafa,&nbsp;Heba M. Aboud,&nbsp;Sarah Mohy,&nbsp;Saleh Al-Quraishy,&nbsp;Ahmed O. Hassan,&nbsp;Noha H. Abdelgelil,&nbsp;Sahar M. Gadelhaq","doi":"10.1111/mve.12698","DOIUrl":"10.1111/mve.12698","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The most economically significant ectoparasites in the tropics and subtropics are ixodid ticks, especially <i>Rhipicephalus annulatus</i> and <i>Rhipicephalus sanguineus</i>. Years of extensive use of the readily available acaricides have resulted in widespread resistance development in these ticks, as well as negative environmental consequences. Benzyl alcohol (BA) has been frequently used to treat pediculosis and scabies, and it may be an effective alternative to commonly used acaricides. The main aim of the present study was to evaluate the acaricide activity of BA and its combination with the regularly used chemical acaricides against <i>R. annulatus</i> and <i>R. sanguineus</i>. Different concentrations of BA alone and in combination with deltamethrin, cypermethrin and chlorpyrifos were tested in vitro against adult and larvae of both tick species. The results showed that BA is toxic to <i>R. annulatus</i> and <i>R. sanguineus</i> larvae, with 100% larval mortality at concentrations of ≥50 mL/L, and LC₅₀ and LC₉₀ attained the concentrations of 19.8 and 33.8 mL/L for <i>R. annulatus</i> and 18.8 and 31.8 mL/L for <i>R. sanguineus</i>, respectively. Furthermore, BA in combination with deltamethrin, cypermethrin and chlorpyrifos exhibited synergistic factors of 2.48, 1.26 and 1.68 against <i>R. annulatus</i> larvae and 1.64, 11.1 and 1.14 against <i>R. sanguineus</i> larvae for deltamethrin + BA, cypermethrin + BA and chlorpyrifos + BA, respectively. BA induced 100% mortality in adult <i>R. annulatus</i> at concentrations of ≥250 mL/L with LC₅₀ and LC₉₀ reached the concentrations of 111 and 154 mL/L, respectively. Additionally, BA had ovicidal activity causing complete inhibition of larval hatching at 100 mL/L. The combination of BA with deltamethrin and cypermethrin increased acetylcholinesterase inhibition, whereas the combination of BA with chlorpyrifos decreased glutathione (GSH) activity and malondialdehyde levels. In the field application, the combination of BA 50 mL/L and deltamethrin (DBA) resulted in a significant reduction in the percentage of ticks by 30.9% 28 days post-treatment when compared with groups treated with deltamethrin alone. In conclusion, BA causes mortality in laboratory and field studies alone and in combination with cypermethrin or deltamethrin. BA can be used for control of ticks of different life stages, that is, eggs and larvae, through application to the ground.</p>","PeriodicalId":18350,"journal":{"name":"Medical and Veterinary Entomology","volume":"38 1","pages":"1-12"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-10-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41183021","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Polyubiquitin protein of Aedes aegypti as an interacting partner of dengue virus envelope protein","authors":"Karuna Yadav,&nbsp;Gunjan Kumar Saurav,&nbsp;Vipin Singh Rana,&nbsp;Nitish Rawat,&nbsp; Anjali,&nbsp;Rohit Jamwal,&nbsp;Om Prakash Singh,&nbsp;Anannya Bandyopadhyay,&nbsp;Raman Rajagopal","doi":"10.1111/mve.12696","DOIUrl":"10.1111/mve.12696","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Dengue virus (DENV) is an arbovirus that comprises four antigenically different serotypes. <i>Aedes aegypti</i> (Diptera: Culicidae) acts as the principal vector for DENV transmission, and vector control is crucial for dengue fever epidemic management. To design effective vector control strategies, a comprehensive understanding of the insect vector and virus interaction is required. Female <i>Ae. aegypti</i> ingests DENV during the acquisition of a blood meal from an infected human. DENV enters the insect midgut, replicates inside it and reaches the salivary gland for transmitting DENV to healthy humans during the subsequent feeding cycles. DENV must interact with the proteins present in the midgut and salivary glands to gain entry and accomplish successful replication and transmission. <i>Ae. aegypti</i> midgut cDNA library was prepared, and yeast two-hybrid screening was performed against the envelope protein domain III (EDIII) protein of DENV-2. The polyubiquitin protein was selected from the various candidate proteins for subsequent analysis. Polyubiquitin gene was amplified, and the protein was purified in a heterologous expression system for in vitro interaction studies. In vitro pull-down assay presented a clear interaction between polyubiquitin protein and EDIII. To further confirm this interaction, a dot blot assay was employed, and polyubiquitin protein was found to interact with DENV particles. Our results enable us to suggest that polyubiquitin plays an important role in DENV infection within mosquitoes.</p>","PeriodicalId":18350,"journal":{"name":"Medical and Veterinary Entomology","volume":"38 1","pages":"48-58"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-10-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41123680","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The pederin-producing bacteria density dynamics in Paederus fuscipes at different developmental stages","authors":"Xuhao Song,&nbsp;Ting Huang,&nbsp;Xianghui Yan,&nbsp;Mengyuan Zuo,&nbsp;Ying Pan,&nbsp;Hengguo He,&nbsp;Yujie Li,&nbsp;Yuan Zou,&nbsp;Chao Du,&nbsp;Fake Zheng,&nbsp;Tingbang Yang","doi":"10.1111/mve.12697","DOIUrl":"10.1111/mve.12697","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Pederin, a defensive toxin in <i>Paederus fuscipes</i>, is produced by an uncultured Gram-negative symbiont, which establishes a stable symbiotic relationship with a female host before completion of metamorphosis. However, the transmission process of pederin-producing bacteria (PPB) in <i>P. fuscipes</i> at different life stages remains unknown. Herein, the PPB population dynamics and transcriptome atlas for <i>P. fuscipes</i> development (egg, first-instar larva, second-instar larva, pupa, and newly emerged female and male) were characterised. We found that a microbial layer containing PPB covered the eggshell, which could be sterilised by smearing the eggshell with streptomycin. Maternal secretions over the eggshell are likely the main PPB acquisition route for <i>P. fuscipes</i> offspring. The PPB density in eggs was significantly higher than that in other life stages (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.05), which demonstrated that the beetle mothers gave more PPB than the larvae acquired. Physiological changes (hatching and eclosion) led to a decreased PPB density in <i>P. fuscipes</i>. Pattern recognition receptors related to Gram-negative bacteria recognition were identified from <i>P. fuscipes</i> transcriptomes across various life stages, which might be used to screen genes involved in PPB regulation. These results will help advance future efforts to determine the molecular mechanisms of PPB colonisation of <i>P. fuscipes</i>.</p>","PeriodicalId":18350,"journal":{"name":"Medical and Veterinary Entomology","volume":"38 1","pages":"59-72"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-09-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41142576","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evidence on the prevalence of emerging and re-emerging tick- and flea-borne rickettsial agents in acute encephalitis syndrome endemic areas of northeast Uttar Pradesh, India","authors":"Sadanandane Candasamy,&nbsp;Elango Ayyanar,&nbsp;Panneer Devaraju,&nbsp;Ashwani Kumar,&nbsp;Kamran Zaman,&nbsp;Bhuwan Bhaskar Mishra,&nbsp;Lakshmy Srinivasan,&nbsp;Jambulingam Purushothaman","doi":"10.1111/mve.12694","DOIUrl":"10.1111/mve.12694","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Outbreaks of acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) with unknown aetiology are reported every year in Gorakhpur district, Uttar Pradesh, India, and <i>Orientia tsutsugamushi</i>, the rickettsial pathogen, responsible for scrub typhus has been attributed as the primary cause of AES problem. However, information on the prevalence of other rickettsial infections is lacking. Hence, this study was carried out to assess any occurrence of tick- and flea-borne rickettsial agents in villages reporting AES cases in this district. In total, 825 peridomestic small mammals were trapped, by setting 9254 Sherman traps in four villages with a trap success rate of 8.9%. The Asian house shrew, <i>Suncus murinus</i>, constituted the predominant animal species (56.2%) and contributed to the maximum number (87.37%) of ectoparasites. In total, 1552 ectoparasites comprising two species of ticks and one species each of flea and louse were retrieved from the trapped rodents/shrews. <i>Rhipicephalus sanguineus</i>, the brown dog tick, was the predominant species retrieved from the trapped rodents/shrews, and the overall infestation rate was 1.75 per animal. In total, 4428 ectoparasites comprising five tick species, three louse species and one flea species were collected from 1798 domestic animals screened. <i>Rhipicephalus microplus</i> was the predominant tick species collected from the domestic animals. The cat flea, <i>Ctenocephalides felis</i>, constituted 1.5% of the total ectoparasites. Of all the ectoparasite samples (5980) from domestic animals and rodents, tested as 1211 pools through real-time PCR assays, 64 pools were positive for <i>23S rRNA</i> gene of rickettsial agents. The PCR-positive samples were subjected to multi-locus sequence typing (MLST). In BLAST and phylogenetic analysis, the ectoparasites were found to harbour <i>Rickettsia asembonensis</i> (<i>n</i> = 9), <i>Rickettsia conorii</i> (<i>n</i> = 3), <i>Rickettsia massiliae</i> (<i>n</i> = 29) and <i>Candidatus</i> Rickettsia senegalensis (<i>n</i> = 1). A total of 22 pools were detected to have multiple rickettsial agents. The prevalence of fleas and high abundance of tick vectors with natural infections of rickettsial agents indicates the risk of transmission of tick- and flea-borne rickettsial diseases in rural villages of Gorakhpur. Further epidemiological studies are required to confirm the transmission of these agents to humans.</p>","PeriodicalId":18350,"journal":{"name":"Medical and Veterinary Entomology","volume":"38 1","pages":"23-37"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41122124","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Nationwide survey of ticks on domesticated animals in Taiwan: Revealing the hidden threat to animal and public health","authors":"Jhih-Rong Liao,&nbsp;Yi-Hao Liao,&nbsp;Kuei-Min Liao,&nbsp;Huai-Hui Wu,&nbsp;Wu-Chun Tu,&nbsp;Ying-Hsi Lin","doi":"10.1111/mve.12692","DOIUrl":"10.1111/mve.12692","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Ticks are not only bloodsucking ectoparasites but also important vectors of tick-borne diseases (TBDs), posing significant threats to public and animal health. Domesticated animals serve as critical hosts for numerous ticks, highlighting the importance of understanding tick infestations in Taiwan. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted a nationwide survey to identify ticks on domesticated animals and associated environments in 2018 and 2019. A total of 6,205 ticks were collected from 1,337 host animals, revealing the presence of seven tick species, with <i>Rhipicephalus microplus</i>, and <i>Rhipicephalus sanguineus</i> being the dominant species. High infestation rates and widespread distribution of ticks were observed on domesticated animals, especially on dogs and cattle (yellow cattle and angus cattle), and the neighbouring grassland of yellow cattle. While this study has certain limitations, it provides valuable insights into the distribution and prevalence of ticks on domesticated animals in Taiwan and their implications for controlling TBDs. Further research is needed to comprehensively understand the complex interactions among ticks, hosts and pathogens.</p>","PeriodicalId":18350,"journal":{"name":"Medical and Veterinary Entomology","volume":"38 1","pages":"99-107"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10264618","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}