Mapendere Cynthia, Bastos Armanda D S, Eric Etter, Heath Livio, Jori Ferran
Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
Hans Hoheisen Research Centre, Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
Parasit Vectors. 2025 Jul 28;18(1):306. doi: 10.1186/s13071-025-06896-8.
In East and Southern Africa, the African swine fever (ASF) virus is maintained in an ancient sylvatic cycle involving warthogs (Phacochoerus spp.) and Ornithodoros soft ticks inhabiting warthog burrows. Although carbon dioxide (CO) traps have previously been used to collect ticks from pigsties in Portugal, this method has never been tested in the context of the ASF sylvatic cycle in Africa. As warthogs adapt their resting site preferences in response to different levels of habitat transformation, our study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of CO traps versus traditional manual collection of soft ticks inhabiting two warthog resting sites: warthog burrows (natural) and house decks (anthropogenic).
The study was performed in Mjejane Game Reserve, a wildlife conservancy adjacent to the Kruger National Park in South Africa. Sixty-one warthog resting sites (31 natural burrows and 30 house decks) were sampled to compare Ornithodoros tick numbers using manual and CO trap methods during wet (summer) and dry (winter) seasons.
The number of ticks collected with CO traps (n = 2024) was significantly higher than those collected with the manual method (n = 885, P < 0.001) for both resting site types. Moreover, the number of ticks collected using CO traps from house decks (n = 1399) was significantly higher (P < 0.001) compared to burrows (n = 625). There were no differences in the number of ticks collected between seasons. Our results suggest that CO traps are highly efficient for collecting Ornithodoros ticks from the two warthog resting site types evaluated in our study area. They also confirm that warthogs can adapt to different levels of habitat transformation and human presence.
The standardised use of the CO trap method facilitates investigations on the distribution of tick-related ASF cycles in sub-Saharan Africa and improves our understanding of the eco-epidemiology of ASF and other Ornithodoros tick-borne diseases.
在东非和南非，非洲猪瘟（ASF）病毒存在于一个古老的野生动物循环中，涉及疣猪（非洲野猪属）和栖息在疣猪洞穴中的钝缘蜱属软蜱。尽管此前曾使用二氧化碳（CO）诱捕器在葡萄牙的猪圈中收集蜱虫，但这种方法从未在非洲 ASF 野生动物循环的背景下进行过测试。由于疣猪会根据栖息地改造的不同程度调整其休息地点偏好，我们的研究旨在评估 CO 诱捕器与传统手工收集栖息于两种疣猪休息地点（疣猪洞穴（自然）和房屋平台（人为））的软蜱的有效性。
该研究在南非克鲁格国家公园附近的野生动物保护区姆杰贾内野生动物保护区进行。对 61 个疣猪休息地点（31 个自然洞穴和 30 个房屋平台）进行采样，以比较在雨季（夏季）和旱季（冬季）使用手工和 CO 诱捕器方法采集的钝缘蜱数量。
对于两种休息地点类型，使用 CO 诱捕器收集的蜱虫数量（n = 2024）显著高于使用手工方法收集的数量（n = 885，P < 0.001）。此外，与洞穴（n = 625）相比，使用 CO 诱捕器从房屋平台收集的蜱虫数量（n = 1399）显著更高（P < 0.001）。不同季节收集的蜱虫数量没有差异。我们的结果表明，CO 诱捕器对于从我们研究区域评估的两种疣猪休息地点类型收集钝缘蜱非常高效。它们还证实了疣猪能够适应不同程度的栖息地改造和人类存在。
CO 诱捕器方法的标准化使用有助于对撒哈拉以南非洲蜱传播的 ASF 循环分布进行调查，并增进我们对 ASF 和其他钝缘蜱传播疾病的生态流行病学的理解。
