Cleveland Christopher A, Friedman Morgan, Thompson Alec T, Haynes Ellen, Coker Sarah M, Bryan John A, Sidouin Metinou, Ouakou Philip Tchindebet, Ngandolo Bongo Nare Richard, Yabsley Michael J
Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, Department of Population Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, Wildlife Health Building, 589 D.W. Brooks Dr., University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA; Center for Ecology of Infectious Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA.
Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, Department of Population Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, Wildlife Health Building, 589 D.W. Brooks Dr., University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA.
Vet Parasitol Reg Stud Reports. 2025 Jan;57:101165. doi: 10.1016/j.vprsr.2024.101165. Epub 2024 Nov 17.
Ticks are medically important vectors of pathogens, many of which are zoonotic or impact domestic animal and/or wildlife health. Climate change, landuse modifications, and increasing interactions between domestic animals, wildlife, and humans have resulted in changes in tick-host dynamics and the emergence of novel pathogens worldwide. Therefore, describing the host and geographic ranges of vector species is essential in assessing disease risk, especially in understudied areas, and should be conducted in a One Health context. In sub-Saharan Africa, previous work on ticks has focused primarily on those species most relevant to domestic livestock or humans, highlighting a significant knowledge gap concerning species of ticks that infest domestic animals in rural areas. The objective of this study was to investigate the species diversity of ticks on domestic dogs in rural areas of Chad, Africa. From 2019 to 2022, we collected 3412 ixodid ticks from 435 domestic dogs from 23 villages in Chad, Africa during both dry and wet seasons. Ticks were identified to species using morphological techniques and/or molecular analyses of the 16S rDNA, 12S rDNA, and cytochrome oxidase I gene regions. We identified 11 species of ticks from dogs including Amblyomma variegatum, an Amblyomma marmoreum complex species, Haemaphysalis leachi, a Haemaphysalis sp., Hyalomma impressum, Hyalomma truncatum, Rhipicephalus decoloratus, Rhipicephalus guilhoni, Rhipicephalus muhsamae, Rhipicephalus linnaei (=R. sanguineus 'tropical lineage'), and a Rhipicephalus sp. Several of these tick species are known vectors for important canine and zoonotic pathogens and some are more commonly associated with cattle hosts. Our results show that sampling ticks from domestic dogs provides an opportunity to examine vectors that may be infesting domestic animals, agricultural animals, wildlife, and humans as hosts in an understudied area.
蜱虫是病原体的重要医学传播媒介，其中许多病原体是人畜共患的，或者会影响家畜和/或野生动物的健康。气候变化、土地利用方式的改变，以及家畜、野生动物和人类之间日益增加的互动，导致了蜱虫与宿主关系的变化以及全球新病原体的出现。因此，描述病媒物种的宿主和地理分布范围对于评估疾病风险至关重要，尤其是在研究不足的地区，并且应该在“同一健康”的背景下进行。在撒哈拉以南非洲，以往关于蜱虫的研究主要集中在与家畜或人类最相关的那些物种上，这凸显了在农村地区侵害家畜的蜱虫物种方面存在重大知识空白。本研究的目的是调查非洲乍得农村地区家犬身上蜱虫的物种多样性。2019年至2022年期间，我们在非洲乍得的23个村庄，于旱季和雨季从435只家犬身上采集了3412只硬蜱。利用形态学技术和/或对16S rDNA、12S rDNA和细胞色素氧化酶I基因区域进行分子分析来鉴定蜱虫的物种。我们从犬身上鉴定出11种蜱虫，包括变异革蜱、大理石革蜱复合种、李氏血蜱、一种血蜱属蜱虫、刻点璃眼蜱、截形璃眼蜱、无色扇头蜱、吉氏扇头蜱、穆氏扇头蜱、林氏扇头蜱（=热带血统血红扇头蜱）以及一种扇头蜱属蜱虫。这些蜱虫物种中有几种是重要犬类和人畜共患病原体的已知传播媒介，有些则更常见于牛宿主。我们的结果表明，从家犬身上采集蜱虫为研究在一个研究不足的地区可能侵害家畜、农业动物、野生动物和人类宿主的传播媒介提供了一个机会。
