Fourteen vertebrate species (10 mammals and 4 birds) were assessed for their ability to transmit Anaplasma phagocytophilum, the bacterium that causes human granulocytic anaplasmosis, to uninfected feeding ixodid ticks. Small mammals were most likely to infect ticks but all species assessed were capable of transmitting the bacterium, in contrast to previous findings.

The arthropod parasite burdens of 14 Cape mountain zebra (Equus zebra zebra), shot for survey purposes in the Mountain Zebra National Park in the eastern Cape Province, were determined. Three species of Gasterophilus larvae and 9 ixodid tick species were recovered. Larvae of Gasterophilus pecorum were the most numerous of the fly larvae recovered and Margaropus winthemi was the most abundant ti...

European erythema migrans disease, lymphocytoma, and acrodermatitis chronica are a group of disorders associated with the bite of ixodid ticks. These disorders are now thought to be due to a single, or closely related, ixodid tick spirochetes. European erythema migrans disease closely resembles Lyme disease. Serological evaluation may help to separate spirochetal lymphocytoma from other pseudol...

Many studies on the population dynamics of questing ticks on pastures and of parasitic ticks on cattle have been conducted. Few, however, have attempted to link the two in a single study. This study aimed to assess the population dynamics of questing ixodid ticks on pastures and of adult ticks on two breeds of cattle with different levels of susceptibility to tick infestation on the same pastur...

This survey of ixodid ticks was the first to compare the species composition and population dynamics of free-living ticks in intensive, sable antelope breeding enclosures, now commonplace in commercial wildlife ranching in South Africa, with those of multi-herbivore enclosures. The species composition, abundance and seasonal abundance of questing ixodid ticks on the vegetation in intensive bree...

The central issue dealt with here is the role of copulation in the control of feeding behaviour in ticks and some haematophagous insects. Female ticks of the family Ixodidae normally engorge to approximately 100 x their unfed body weight, and then drop from the host, produce and lay eggs, and die. Virgins, on the other hand, normally do not exceed 5-40% (depending on species) of the normal engo...

BACKGROUND The increase in tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) incidence is observed in recent decades in a number of subarctic countries. The reasons of it are widely discussed in scientific publications. The objective of this study was to understand if the climate change in Arkhangelsk Oblast (AO) situated in the north of European subarctic zone of Russia has real impact on the northward expansion ...

Ixodid ticks are notorious blood-sucking ectoparasites and are completely dependent on blood-meals from hosts. In addition to the direct severe effects on health and productivity, ixodid ticks transmit various deadly diseases to humans and animals. Unlike rapidly feeding vessel-feeder hematophagous insects, the hard ticks feed on hosts for a long time (5-10 days or more), making a large blood p...

Emerging Infectious Diseases • www.cdc.gov/eid • Vol. 11, No. 3, March 2005 509 dling guidelines. A facility inspection and review of the caterer’s procedures identified improper holding temperatures for potentially hazardous foods as the likely cause of the outbreak. In this incident, prompt action by the police department, which employed an agency-wide radio communications system to warn offi...