First Detection of Rickettsia in Soft‐Bodied Ticks Associated with Seabirds, Japan

Abstract

Rickettsia was first detected in seabird soft‐bodied ticks, Carios capensis and C. sawaii in Japan. According to sequence analysis, Rickettsia in Japan was identical to Rickettsia scc31 in C. capensis in the U.S.A. This suggested that an environmental circulation had consisted among microorganisms, ticks and long distance migratory seabirds around the Pacific Ocean.

Migratory Songbirds Disperse Ticks Across Canada, and First Isolation of the Lyme Disease Spirochete, Borrelia Burgdorferi, From the Avian Tick, Ixodes Auritulus

“…Comparatively, there were just 0-2 base differences, with 99.5-100% nucleotide sequence identities between O. sawaii collected from Gugul and Sogugul Islands and other collection sites in Japan (Miyazaki, Shimane, Kyoto, Kutsujima, and Ishikawa Islands) (Kawabata et al 2006, Takano et al 2014. In Japan, O. sawaii has been recorded from two migratory seabirds, the Streaked Shearwater, Calonectris leucomelas (Temminck, 1836), and Swinhoe's Storm Petrel (Kitaoka and Suzuki 1973, 1974, Kawabata et al 2006, Takano et al 2014. Our survey showed that O. sawaii is associated with nests of the Ancient Murrelet and Japanese Murrelet, as well as Swinhoe's Storm Petrel.…”

“…Ornithodoros sawaii was first described in 1973, but in Japan it is known only from nests of the Streaked Shearwater and Swinhoe's Storm Petrel located on the Japanese islands of Hanmya, Miyazaki, Shimane, Maizuru, Kyoto, and Ishikawa (Kitaoka & Suzuki 1973, 1974, Kawabata et al 2006, Takano et al 2014. In Korea, O. sawaii larvae were recovered from the wing and abdomen of Swinhoe's Storm Petrel on Sogugul and Gaerin Islands (Kim et al 2016a), and nymphs and adults were collected from nest soil/litter during the nesting season of the Ancient Murrelet and Swinhoe's Storm Petrel on Chilbal Island (Kim et al 2015(Kim et al , 2016b.…”

“…Annual migrations of migratory seabirds to and from their breeding and feeding grounds may result in the importation of exotic tick species that are transported over long distances and to diverse environments in non-endemic regions (Kohls 1957, Hughes et al 1964, Amerson 1968, Nuttall 1984, Heath 1987, 2006, Hutcheson et al 2005, Kawabata et al 2006, Kim et al 2009a, Dietrich et al 2011, Kang et al 2013.…”

“…The genus Ornithodoros Koch contains the largest number of described species of soft ticks (112/193) (Guglielmone et al 2010), and these are frequently associated with various seabird hosts in both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, including the Pacific Islands (Vander Velde & Vander Velde 2013), North and South America (Denmark & Clifford 1962, Jonkers et al 1973, Keirans et al 1992, New Zealand (Heath 1987, 2006, Murray et al 1990, Australia (Murray et al 1990), Antarctica (Murray et al 1990), Japan (Asanuma et al 1955, Asanuma & Fukuda 1957, Asanuma 1960, 1965, Yamaguti et al 1971, Kawabata et al 2006, Russia (Akhundova et al 1971), and Africa (Hoogstraal et al 1976).…”

Importance of Common Wall Lizards in the Transmission Dynamics of Tick-Borne Pathogens in the Northern Apennine Mountains, Italy

“…ticks: H. punctata and H. sulcata in Spain [29,39], H. punctata in Cyprus [3] and H. parva in Turkey [20,36]. In other continents, R. hoogstraalii was associated to soft ticks [8,19,33,37]. Our finding of this organism not only in H. sulcata but also in I. ricinus could suggest a spillover of the rickettsia into I. ricinus, determined either by the intake of rickettsemic bloodmeals from lizards or by the cofeeding of the two tick species [59].…”