Department of Biology and Parasitology, Medical University, Lublin, Poland.
Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences in Sosnowiec, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland.
Ann Agric Environ Med. 2023 Jun 26;30(2):259-265. doi: 10.26444/aaem/167427. Epub 2023 Jun 23.
Little is known about interspecific contacts between ticks. Therefore, this study focused on the investigation of factors that may influence interspecific contacts between and ticks.
males and females involved in oral-anal contacts (group I) and questing specimens with no such behaviour (group II) collected in eastern Poland were examined using molecular techniques to detect s.l. (Bb), spp. (Rs), , , and .
An extremely high infection rate of Bb and Rs was determined in males (in groups I: 100% and 46.15% and group II: 90% and 40%, respectively) and females (in group I: 84.61% and 61.53% and in group II: 90% and 20%, respectively). The prevalence of other pathogens in these ticks was substantially lower. Co-infection with pathogens was detected in approximately 53% of ticks.
The study suggests that tick-borne pathogens may have influenced the sexual behaviour of their vectors. The oral-anal contacts between and ticks are probably stimulated by Bb and/or Rs. The presence of five pathogens and numerous co-infections in the analysed ticks indicates a risk of various human infectious diseases in the study region. Further studies are required to clarify the implications of oral-anal interspecific tick interactions.
关于蜱之间的种间接触知之甚少。因此，本研究侧重于调查可能影响蜱之间种间接触的因素。
在波兰东部采集了参与口腔-肛门接触的雄性和雌性蜱（第 I 组）和没有这种行为的求偶标本（第 II 组），并使用分子技术检测蜱属 s.l.（Bb）、硬蜱属（Rs）、、、和。
在雄性蜱（第 I 组：100%和 46.15%，第 II 组：90%和 40%）和雌性蜱（第 I 组：84.61%和 61.53%，第 II 组：90%和 20%）中，Bb 和 Rs 的感染率极高。其他病原体在这些蜱中的流行率要低得多。大约 53%的蜱检测到了病原体的合并感染。
该研究表明，蜱传病原体可能影响了其载体的性行为。与蜱之间的口腔-肛门接触可能是由 Bb 和/或 Rs 刺激的。在分析的蜱中存在五种病原体和大量的合并感染，表明该研究区域存在各种人类传染病的风险。需要进一步研究以阐明种间蜱相互作用的影响。
