Mays Maestas Sarah E, Campbell Lindsay P, Milleson Michael P, Reeves Lawrence E, Kaufman Phillip E, Wisely Samantha M
Entomology and Nematology Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32608, USA.
Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory, University of Florida, Vero Beach, FL 32962, USA.
Insects. 2023 Jul 6;14(7):612. doi: 10.3390/insects14070612.
Invasive wild pigs are distributed across much of the U.S. and are hosts to tick vectors of human disease. Herein, adult ticks were collected from 157 wild pigs in 21 northern and central Florida counties from 2019-2020 during removal efforts by USDA-APHIS Wildlife Services personnel and evaluated for their potential to be used as a method of tick-borne disease surveillance. Collected ticks were identified, screened for pathogens, and the effects of landscape metrics on tick community composition and abundance were investigated. A total of 1415 adult ticks of four species were collected. The diversity of tick species collected from wild pigs was comparable to collections made throughout the state with conventional surveillance methods. All species collected have implications for pathogen transmission to humans and other animals. , -like, and spp. were detected in ticks collected from wild pigs. These results suggest that tick collection from wild pigs is a suitable means of surveillance for pathogens and vectors. The strongest drivers of variation in tick community composition were the developed open space and mixed forest landcover classes. Fragmented shrub/scrub habitat was associated with increased tick abundance. Similar models may be useful in predicting tick abundance and distribution patterns.
入侵性野猪分布在美国大部分地区，是人类疾病蜱虫传播媒介的宿主。在此，2019年至2020年期间，美国农业部动植物卫生检验局野生动物服务人员在佛罗里达州北部和中部的21个县开展野猪清除工作时，从157头野猪身上采集了成年蜱虫，并评估了其作为蜱传疾病监测方法的潜力。对采集到的蜱虫进行了鉴定、病原体筛查，并研究了景观指标对蜱虫群落组成和丰度的影响。共采集到四种成年蜱虫1415只。从野猪身上采集到的蜱虫种类多样性与该州采用传统监测方法的采集结果相当。所有采集到的蜱虫种类都对病原体向人类和其他动物的传播有影响。在从野猪身上采集的蜱虫中检测到了 、 类和 属。这些结果表明，从野猪身上采集蜱虫是监测病原体和传播媒介的合适手段。蜱虫群落组成变化的最强驱动因素是已开发的开放空间和混交林土地覆盖类型。破碎的灌木/矮树丛栖息地与蜱虫丰度增加有关。类似的模型可能有助于预测蜱虫的丰度和分布模式。
