Morphological and molecular confirmation of Ornithodoros hasei (Schulze, 1935) (Acari: Argasidae) in Colombia

Bacterial community of ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) and mammals from Arauca, Colombian Orinoquia

“…In Neotropical and ecological complex countries such as Colombia, the presence of 57 tick species (42 Ixodidae and 15 Argasidae) has been confirmed ( Rivera-Páez et al, 2018a ; Labruna et al, 2020 ; Ortíz-Giraldo et al, 2021 ; Saracho-Bottero et al, 2020 , 2021 ; Guglielmone et al, 2021 , 2023 ). For the Orinoquia region, one of the six natural regions of Colombia that is shared with Venezuela and belongs to the Orinoco River watershed, the presence of ticks such as Amblyomma mixtum , Amblyomma triste (Ixodidae), and Ornithodoros hasei (Acari: Argasidae) that are confirmed or potential vectors of pathogens has been confirmed ( Rivera-Páez et al, 2016 ; Ossa-López et al, 2022 , 2023 ). Similarly, molecular evidence of rickettsial DNA and the detection of antibodies provided strong evidence for the Orinoquia region to be considered the third endemic region for Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) group rickettsiosis ( Miranda et al, 2011 ; Riveros-Pinilla et al, 2015 ; Gómez-Quintero et al, 2017 ; Rivera-Páez et al, 2018b ; Cardona-Romero et al, 2022 ; Velásquez-Guarín et al, 2024 ).…”