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Flores FS, Saracho-Bottero MN, Tarragona EL, Sebastian PS, Copa GN, Guardia L, Mangold AJ, Venzal JM, Nava S. Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae, Argasidae) associated with wild birds in Argentina. Ticks Tick Borne Dis 2023; 14:102135. [PMID: 36773558 DOI: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2023.102135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2022] [Revised: 10/17/2022] [Accepted: 01/25/2023] [Indexed: 02/11/2023]
Abstract
The aim of this study was to report tick infestations on wild birds from four Phytogeographic Provinces of Argentina. A total of 1085 birds was captured (124 species, 97 genera, 29 families and 13 orders), and ticks were collected from 265 birds (48 species, 40 genera and five orders). A total of 1469 ticks (1102 larvae, 363 nymphs and 4 females) belonging to 15 tick species (Amblyomma calcaratum, Amblyomma dubitatum, Amblyomma nodosum, Amblyomma ovale, Amblyomma parvum, Amblyomma sculptum, Amblyomma tigrinum, Amblyomma triste, Haemaphysalis juxtakochi, Haemaphysalis leporispalustris, Ixodes auritulus sensu lato, Ixodes pararicinus, Ixodes silvanus, Ixodes sp. cf. I. affinis and Ornithodoros sp. cf. O. mimon). Eighty-one new associations between bird species and stages of tick species are detected. The families Thamnophilidae, Turdidae, Thraupidae, Passerellidae, Furnariidae and Troglodytidae were the most prevalent. According to the Phytogeographic Provinces involved in this study, the prevalence of infection for each of them in birds was: (1) Chaco: 28.2% (11 tick species); (2) Yungas: 22.0% (8 tick species); (3) Espinal: 11.1% (2 tick species); and (4) Pampa: 3.9% (1 tick species). This study provided information on the diversity of tick species that parasitize wild birds, the variability of the specific tick-bird associations between the different Phytogeographic Provinces and the relevance of some families of birds as hosts of different tick species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fernando S Flores
- Centro de Investigaciones Entomológicas de Córdoba (CIEC), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina; Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas (IIByT), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Córdoba, Argentina.
| | - Maria N Saracho-Bottero
- Instituto de Investigación de la Cadena Láctea (IDICAL, INTA - CONICET) Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, E.E.A. Rafaela, Rafaela, Santa Fe, Argentina
| | - Evelina L Tarragona
- Instituto de Investigación de la Cadena Láctea (IDICAL, INTA - CONICET) Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, E.E.A. Rafaela, Rafaela, Santa Fe, Argentina
| | - Patrick S Sebastian
- Instituto de Investigación de la Cadena Láctea (IDICAL, INTA - CONICET) Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, E.E.A. Rafaela, Rafaela, Santa Fe, Argentina
| | - Griselda N Copa
- Cátedra de Química Biológica, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Salta, Salta, Argentina
| | - Leonor Guardia
- Instituto Superior de Entomología, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina
| | - Atilio J Mangold
- Instituto de Investigación de la Cadena Láctea (IDICAL, INTA - CONICET) Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, E.E.A. Rafaela, Rafaela, Santa Fe, Argentina
| | - José M Venzal
- Laboratorio de Vectores y enfermedades transmitidas, Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, CENUR Litoral Norte, Universidad de la República, Salto, Uruguay
| | - Santiago Nava
- Instituto de Investigación de la Cadena Láctea (IDICAL, INTA - CONICET) Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, E.E.A. Rafaela, Rafaela, Santa Fe, Argentina
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Dantas-Torres F, Marzochi MCA, Muñoz-Leal S, Sales KGDS, Sousa-Paula LCD, Moraes-Filho J, Labruna MB. Ornithodoros cf. mimon infected with a spotted fever group Rickettsia in Brazil. Acta Trop 2022; 233:106541. [PMID: 35623399 DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2022.106541] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2022] [Revised: 05/20/2022] [Accepted: 05/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Ornithodoros mimon is an argasid tick primarily associated with bats that also infest other animals including birds, opossums and humans. In this paper, we report the finding of an argasid species resembling O. mimon, which similarly may be found in human dwellings and parasitize humans in Brazil. We also provide molecular evidence that this argasid tick species may carry a rickettsial organism, whose pathogenicity remains unknown. A total of 16 ticks (two females, two males and 12 nymphs) were collected in the bedroom and in the attic of a human house, where cases of "insect" bites have been recurrent. These ticks were identified morphologically and genetically as Ornithodoros cf. mimon. Upon PCR testing, four of these ticks (one female and three nymphs) were positive for human blood and for a bacterium closely related to "Candidatus Rickettsia paranaensis". In conclusion, we report for the first time in Brazil an argasid tick species morphologically and genetically related to O. mimon, which feeds on humans and carry a rickettsial organism belonging to the spotted fever group. Further studies are needed to formally assess the taxonomic status of this tick species and also to investigate the pathogenicity of its associated rickettsial organism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Filipe Dantas-Torres
- Department of Immunology, Aggeu Magalhães Institute, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), Recife, Brazil.
| | - Mauro C A Marzochi
- Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Sebastián Muñoz-Leal
- Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, University of Concepción, Chillán, Chile
| | | | | | - Jonas Moraes-Filho
- Mestrado e Doutorado em Saúde Única, Universidade Santo Amaro, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Marcelo B Labruna
- Department of Preventive Veterinary Medicine and Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Zootechny, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
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Nuclear (18S-28S rRNA) and mitochondrial genome markers of Carios (Carios) vespertilionis (Argasidae) support Carios Latreille, 1796 as a lineage embedded in the Ornithodorinae: re-classification of the Carios sensu Klompen and Oliver (1993) clade into its respective subgenera. Ticks Tick Borne Dis 2021; 12:101688. [PMID: 33652332 DOI: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2021.101688] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2020] [Revised: 02/08/2021] [Accepted: 02/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Argasid systematics remains controversial with widespread adherence to the Hoogstraal (1985) classification scheme, even though it does not reflect evolutionary relationships and results in paraphyly for the main genera of soft ticks (Argasidae), namely Argas and Ornithodoros. The alternative classification scheme, proposed by Klompen and Oliver (1993), has problems of its own: most notably paraphyly of the subgenus Pavlovskyella and the controversial grouping together of the subgenera Alectorobius, Antricola, Carios, Chiropterargas, Nothoaspis, Parantricola, Reticulinasus and Subparmatus into the genus Carios. Recent phylogenetic analyses of 18S/28S rRNA sequences and mitochondrial genomes agree with the scheme of Klompen and Oliver (1993), with regard to the paraphyly of Pavlovskyella, placement of Alveonasus, Ogadenus, Proknekalia and Secretargas in the Argasinae and placement of Carios and Chiropterargas in the Ornithodorinae (Mans et al., 2019). The Carios clade and its constituent subgenera remain controversial, since the phylogenetic position of its type species Carios (Carios) vespertilionis Latreille, 1796 (formerly Argas vespertilionis) has not been determined with confidence. The current study aimed to resolve Carios sensu lato Klompen and Oliver, 1993, and Carios sensu stricto Hoogstraal, 1985, by determining and analysing phylogenetic nuclear and mitochondrial markers for C. (C.) vespertilionis. Both the nuclear and mitochondrial markers support placement of Carios s.s. within the subfamily Ornithodorinae, but to the exclusion of the clade that includes the 6 other subgenera that are part of Carios s.l. Klompen and Oliver (1993), namely Alectorobius, Antricola, Nothoaspis, Parantricola, Reticulinasus and Subparmatus. These 6 subgenera form a monophyletic clade that might be placed as new subgenera within the genus Alectorobius, or elevated to genera. Given the substantial differences in biology among these subgenera, we propose that these 6 subgenera be elevated to genera. Thus, we propose to modify the classification scheme of Mans et al. (2019) so that the subfamily Argasinae now has six genera, Alveonasus, Argas (subgenera Argas and Persicargas), Navis, Ogadenus, Proknekalia and Secretargas, and the subfamily Ornithodorinae has nine genera, Alectorobius, Antricola (subgenera Antricola and Parantricola), Carios, Chiropterargas, Nothoaspis, Ornithodoros (subgenera Microargas, Ornamentum, Ornithodoros, Pavlovskyella and Theriodoros), Otobius, Reticulinasus and Subparmatus (genera indicated in bold).
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Colombo VC, Montani ME, Pavé R, Antoniazzi LR, Gamboa MD, Fasano AA, Félix ML, Nava S, Venzal JM. First detection of “Candidatus Rickettsia wissemanii” in Ornithodoros hasei (Schulze, 1935) (Acari: Argasidae) from Argentina. Ticks Tick Borne Dis 2020; 11:101442. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2020.101442] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2019] [Revised: 02/21/2020] [Accepted: 04/06/2020] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
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Muñoz-Leal S, Martins MM, Nava S, Landulfo GA, Simons SM, Rodrigues VS, Ramos VN, Suzin A, Szabó MPJ, Labruna MB. Ornithodoros cerradoensis n. sp. (Acari: Argasidae), a member of the Ornithodoros talaje (Guérin-Méneville, 1849) group, parasite of rodents in the Brazilian Savannah. Ticks Tick Borne Dis 2020; 11:101497. [PMID: 32723643 DOI: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2020.101497] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2020] [Revised: 06/11/2020] [Accepted: 06/17/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Ornithodoros cerradoensis n. sp. is described from field-collected and laboratory reared nymphs, males, females, and larvae parasitizing the rodents Cavia aperea and Thrichomys sp. in the Brazilian Savannah. This new species is morphologically and genetically related with the Ornithodoros talaje group and can be separated from other Neotropical species using the following combination of characters: larva with 18 pairs of setae on dorsum (seven anterolateral, four central and seven posterolateral), hypostome with median dentition 2/2; adults provided with large mammillae; dorsal disks surrounded by bulked marginal ridges delimiting barely pebbled areas; three disks in the anterolateral file, and median disk not merging with the posteromedian file. Feeding assays in the laboratory demonstrated that (1) larvae of O. cerradoensis are slow-feeders (∼6 days), (2) first nymphal instar (N1) molts to second instar (N2) without feeding, and (3) N2 and third nymphal instar (N3) engorge rapidly (minutes). With the exception of Ornithodoros hasei nymphs that depict flattened bodies, O. cerradoensis N1, N2, and N3 highly resemble homologous instars of other species in O. talaje sensu lato, therefore are not suitable for morphological comparisons within the group. In addition to morphological signature of larvae and adults that separate this new species; results of cross-mating attempts between O. cerradoensis and Ornithodoros guaporensis a morphologically and phylogenetically closely related species that also parasitizes rodents in the Brazilian Savannah; a Principal Component Analysis using larval characters; and a phylogenetic analysis using mitochondrial markers, support O. cerradoensis as an independent lineage within the Ornithodorinae.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastián Muñoz-Leal
- Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva e Saúde Animal, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Prof. Orlando Marques de Paiva, 87, Cidade Universitária, São Paulo, SP, 05508-270, Brazil.
| | - Maria M Martins
- Laboratório de Ixodologia, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Av. Amazonas s/n, Campus Umuarama-Bloco 6T, Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, MG, 38405-302, Brazil
| | - Santiago Nava
- Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Rafaela and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, CC 22, CP 2300, Rafaela, Santa Fe, Argentina
| | - Gabriel A Landulfo
- Laboratório de Parasitologia, Instituto Butantan, Av. Vital Brasil 1500, São Paulo, SP, 05503-900, Brazil
| | - Simone M Simons
- Laboratório de Parasitologia, Instituto Butantan, Av. Vital Brasil 1500, São Paulo, SP, 05503-900, Brazil
| | - Vinicius S Rodrigues
- Laboratório de Ixodologia, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Av. Amazonas s/n, Campus Umuarama-Bloco 6T, Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, MG, 38405-302, Brazil
| | - Vanessa N Ramos
- Laboratório de Ixodologia, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Av. Amazonas s/n, Campus Umuarama-Bloco 6T, Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, MG, 38405-302, Brazil
| | - Adriane Suzin
- Laboratório de Ixodologia, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Av. Amazonas s/n, Campus Umuarama-Bloco 6T, Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, MG, 38405-302, Brazil
| | - Matias P J Szabó
- Laboratório de Ixodologia, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Av. Amazonas s/n, Campus Umuarama-Bloco 6T, Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, MG, 38405-302, Brazil
| | - Marcelo B Labruna
- Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva e Saúde Animal, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Prof. Orlando Marques de Paiva, 87, Cidade Universitária, São Paulo, SP, 05508-270, Brazil
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Dantas-Torres F, Fernandes Martins T, Muñoz-Leal S, Onofrio VC, Barros-Battesti DM. Ticks (Ixodida: Argasidae, Ixodidae) of Brazil: Updated species checklist and taxonomic keys. Ticks Tick Borne Dis 2019; 10:101252. [PMID: 31255534 DOI: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2019.06.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2018] [Revised: 04/19/2019] [Accepted: 06/15/2019] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Ticks are ectoparasites of great medical and veterinary significance in the neotropical region. In Brazil, they are responsible for enormous economic losses to the livestock industry and also for considerable morbidity and mortality in companion animals and humans. Therefore, recognizing the identity of a given species is important, not only from a biodiversity perspective, but also from the medical and veterinary standpoints. The Brazilian tick fauna is one of the most diverse and well-studied in the neotropical region. In the past few years, several new species were discovered and/or recorded for the first time in this country. The main objectives of this study were to provide an updated list of tick species occurring in Brazil and taxonomic keys for their identification. The updated list of Brazilian ticks includes 70 species, 47 in the family Ixodidae and 23 in the family Argasidae. The genera Amblyomma (32 spp.) and Ornithodoros (18 spp.) are the most representative. Updated taxonomic keys for the identification of ticks of Brazil are provided. Finally, the medico-veterinary significance of ticks occurring in this country is briefly discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Filipe Dantas-Torres
- Department of Immunology, Aggeu Magalhães Institute, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Recife, PE, Brazil.
| | - Thiago Fernandes Martins
- Department of Preventive Veterinary Medicine and Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Sebastián Muñoz-Leal
- Department of Preventive Veterinary Medicine and Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Valeria Castilho Onofrio
- Special Laboratory of Zoological Collections, Butantan Institute, São Paulo, Brazil; Master's Program in Veterinary Medicine and Animal Welfare, Santo Amaro University, SP, Brazil
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