Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Av. Pará, 1720/Campus Umuarama-Bloco 2T, 38400-902 Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Exp Parasitol. 2012 Dec;132(4):389-93. doi: 10.1016/j.exppara.2012.10.004. Epub 2012 Oct 16.
Rhipicephalus sanguineus is believed to be the most widespread tick species of the world and its dissemination seems to rely on the diffusion of its main host, the dog. Empirical observations indicate that several bird species in urban areas regularly steal dog food. Such circumstances create a chance for R. sanguineus ticks to climb on birds and carry ticks to another site. In this work we evaluated experimentally the likelihood of birds (chicks) to either feed and/or carry R. sanguineus ticks from an infested site to another and to infest a host (rabbit) in the new location. Chicks were not suitable hosts for R. sanguineus ticks. Not a single adult tick engorged on chicks, yield as well as weight of engorged larvae and nymphs were very low and feeding period of these ticks was very long. However, a few larvae and, chiefly, nymphs were delivered to a new location either mechanically or after attachment and engorging total or partially on chicks. A few of these ticks fed successfully on rabbits. Further evidence on the capacity of birds to introduce R. sanguineus into non-infested dog settings should be provided by systematic examination of birds from urban areas, close to tick infested households.
血红扇头蜱被认为是世界上分布最广泛的蜱种，其传播似乎依赖于其主要宿主——狗的扩散。经验观察表明，城市地区的几种鸟类经常偷食狗食。这种情况为血红扇头蜱爬上鸟类并将蜱虫带到另一个地方提供了机会。在这项工作中，我们通过实验评估了鸟类（小鸡）从受感染地点到另一个地点进食和/或携带血红扇头蜱以及在新地点感染宿主（兔子）的可能性。小鸡不是血红扇头蜱的合适宿主。没有一只成年蜱虫在小鸡身上吸血，吸血幼虫和若虫的产率和体重都非常低，这些蜱虫的吸血期非常长。然而，一些幼虫，主要是若虫，要么通过机械方式，要么在附着并全部或部分吸血后，被送到新的地点。其中一些蜱虫成功地在兔子身上进食。应通过对来自受感染家庭附近城市地区的鸟类进行系统检查，提供有关鸟类将血红扇头蜱引入非感染狗环境的能力的进一步证据。
