The three most common Ixodes spp. ticks found on songbirds in Western Europe are Ixodes frontalis, I. arboricola and I. ricinus. As the latter species is a generalist, it shares several avian hosts with the two strictly ornithophilic species. Infestations of the three species can overlap in time and space, implying that tick-borne pathogens maintained by the ornithophilic ticks and their hosts ...

The alternative pathway of complement is an important innate defence against pathogens including ticks. This component of the immune system has selected for pathogens that have evolved countermeasures. Recently, a salivary protein able to inhibit the alternative pathway was cloned from the American tick Ixodes scapularis (Valenzuela et al., 2000; J. Biol. Chem. 275, 18717-18723). Here, we isola...

A carcass of a Persian leopard (Panthera pardus saxicolor) that was inadvertently killed in a car accident in Golestan National Park, North-Iran, was referred to the laboratory of the Department of Environment in Golestan Province. The carcass was infested with hard ticks. Five ticks were collected and identified as Ixodes ricinus (one female) and Rhipicephalus turanicus (four males).  These ha...

BACKGROUND The present study aimed to demonstrate the seasonal activities of Ixodes ricinus at the pasture level and on the host. METHODS A vast pasture in Amol countryside (Mazandaran Province, Iran) which had the potential for a considerable number of cattle and sheep to graze was chosen. Tick sampling from the skin of 130 cattle and 130 sheep were collected every month interval. Simultaneo...

"Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis" (Anaplasmataceae) is an emerging pathogen transmitted by Ixodes ticks. Conventional PCR and the newly developed high-resolution melt PCR were used to detect and discriminate "Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis" and Anaplasma phagocytophilum. Both bacterial species were frequently found in Ixodes ricinus and Ixodes hexagonus but virtually absent from Dermacen...

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND TERMS PAPERS IN THIS THESIS INTRODUCTION Lyme disease Diagnosis Causative agent Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato Genome and genetics Typing methods Taxonomy Biogeography and biodiversity Vectors The Ixodes ricinus complex Vector competence of other Ixodes ticks for B. burgdorferi s.l. Ixodes uriae Reservoir hosts Mammalian reservoirs for B. burgdorferi s.l. Birds as res...

A total of 278 Ixodes ticks, collected from Madeira Island and Setubal District, mainland Portugal, were examined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the presence of Anaplasma phagocytophilum. Six (4%) of 142 Ixodes ricinus nymphs collected in Madeira Island and 1 nymph and 1 male (2%) of 93 I. ventalloi collected in Setubal District tested positive for A. phagocytophilum msp2 genes or rrs. ...

Bulgarian Ixodes ricinus ticks were examined for Ehrlichia and Borrelia coinfection: 34 and 32% of adult ticks and at least 2 and 10% of nymphs were positive for these infections, respectively. Coinfections and dual or triple Borrelia infections were frequent, although Ehrlichia phagocytophila heterogeneity was minimal. Multiple tick-borne bacteria coexist in I. ricinus ticks in southeastern Eu...

The species Ixodes aragaoi Fonseca was described as Ixodes ricinus aragaoi, and later placed in synonymy with Ixodes affinis. However, this synonymy was rejected and the subspecies was elevated to species, and named as I. aragaoi. Some researchers did not consider the validity of I. aragaoi and maintained the synonymy proposed until 1998 when I. aragaoi was revalidated, and it was suggested tha...

The uncomplicated removal of a tick, Ixodes ricinus, from the lid is described. Methods of removal of ticks, their natural history, and potential complications are discussed.