Ticks and Tick-Borne Infections: Complex Ecology, Agents, and Host Interactions

Wikel, Stephen K.

doi:10.3390/vetsci5020060

Cited by 122 publications

(98 citation statements)

References 209 publications

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“…The above characteristics, among others, enable ticks to transmit a great variety of pathogens, including bacteria, viruses, protozoa and helminths, which constitute a growing burden for human and animal health worldwide [4,10]. Among arthropod vectors, ticks transmit the most diverse array of disease agents [11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Handling the Microbial Complexity Associated to Ticks

Cabezas‐Cruz¹,

Pollet²,

Estrada-Peña³

et al. 2019

Ticks and Tick-Borne Pathogens

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Ticks and the pathogens they transmit constitute a growing burden for human and animal health worldwide. In the last years, high-throughput detection and sequencing technologies (HTT) have revealed that individual ticks carry a high diversity of microorganisms, including pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria. Despite several studies have contributed to the availability of a catalog of microorganisms associated to different tick species, major limitations and challenges remain ahead HTT studies to acquire further insights on the microbial complexity associated to ticks. Currently, using next generation sequencing (NGS), bacteria genera (or higher taxonomic levels) can be recorded; however, species identification remains problematic which in turn affects pathogen detection using NGS. Microfluidic PCR, a high-throughput detection technology, can detect up to 96 different pathogen species, and its combination with NGS might render interesting insights into pathogenmicrobiota co-occurrence patterns. Microfluidic PCR, however, is also limited because detection of pathogen strains has not been implemented, and therefore, putative associations among bacterial genotypes are currently unknown. Combining NGS and microfluidic PCR data may prove challenging. Here, we review the impact of some HTT applied to tick microbiology research and propose network analysis as an integrative data analysis benchmark to unravel the structure and significance of microbial communities associated to ticks in different ecosystems.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Handling the Microbial Complexity Associated to Ticks

Cabezas‐Cruz¹,

Pollet²,

Estrada-Peña³

et al. 2019

Ticks and Tick-Borne Pathogens

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“…Ticks are arthropod vectors of pathogens of both Veterinary and Public health concern in tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world [1,2]. In 2007, the average annual cost of tick borne diseases (TBDs) management was estimated to be 4.20 US Dollars per head of cattle [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In 2007, the average annual cost of tick borne diseases (TBDs) management was estimated to be 4.20 US Dollars per head of cattle [3]. Ticks are associated with both direct and indirect constraints to livestock health and production [1,2]. Their direct constraints to livestock production include, but are not limited to, blood loss (anemia), discomfort, skin-and-hide quality loss, and tick paralysis (Fig 1) [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

In Silico Analysis of Ixodid Tick Aqauporin-1 Protein as a Candidate Anti-Tick Vaccine Antigen

Ndekezi

Nkamwesiga

Ochwo

et al. 2019

Preprint

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21Ticks are arthropod vectors of pathogens of both Veterinary and Public health importance.22 Ticks are largely controlled by acaricide application. However, acaricide efficacy is hampered by 23 high cost, the need for regular application and selection of multi-acaricide resistant tick 24 populations. In light of this, future tick control approaches are poised to rely on integration of 25 rational acaricide application and other methods such as vaccination. To contribute to systematic 26 research-guided efforts to produce anti-tick vaccines, we carried out an in silico tick Aquaporin-1 27 protein (AQP1) analysis to identify unique tick AQP1 peptide motifs that can be used in future 28 peptide anti-tick vaccine development. We used multiple sequence alignment (MSA), motif 29 analysis, homology modeling, and structural analysis to identify unique tick AQP1 peptide motifs. 30 BepiPred, Chou & Fasman-Turn, Karplus & Schulz Flexibility and Parker-Hydrophilicity 31 prediction models were used to asses these motifs' abilities to induce antibody mediated immune 32 responses. Tick AQP1 (MK334178) protein homology was largely similar to the bovine AQP1 33 (PDB:1J4N) (23 % sequence similarity; Structural superimposition RMS=1.475). The highest 34 similarities were observed in the transmembrane domains while differences were observed in the 35 extra and intra cellular protein loops. Two unique tick AQP1 (MK334178) motifs, M7 (residues 36 106-125, p=5.4e-25) and M8 (residues 85-104, p=3.3e-24) were identified. These two motifs are 37 located on the extra-cellular AQP1 domain and showed the highest Parker-Hydrophilicity 38 prediction immunogenic scores of 1.153 and 2.612 respectively. The M7 and M8 motifs are a good 39 starting point for the development of potential peptide-based anti-tick vaccine. Further analyses 40 such as in vivo immunization assays are required to validate these findings. 41 42 Key words: Aquaporin-1 protein, Immunogenicity; Tick control; Peptide motifs 3 43 Background 44 Ticks are arthropod vectors of pathogens of both Veterinary and Public health concern in 45 tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world [1,2]. In 2007, the average annual cost of tick borne 46 diseases (TBDs) management was estimated to be 4.20 US Dollars per head of cattle [3]. Ticks 47 are associated with both direct and indirect constraints to livestock health and production [1,2].48 Their direct constraints to livestock production include, but are not limited to, blood loss (anemia), 49 discomfort, skin-and-hide quality loss, and tick paralysis (Fig 1) [4]. Their indirect constraints to 50 livestock production and health relate to transmission of diseases of veterinary importance 51 including: anaplasmosis (Anaplasma spp), babesiosis (Babesia spp), theileriosis (Theileria spp.), 52 and heartwater (Cowdria ruminatium) [1]. In addition, ticks transmit zoonotic pathogens belonging 53 to Babesia spp., Borrelia spp., Rickettsia spp., Ehrlichia spp., Francisella tularensis, Coxiella 54 burnetii, and viruses such as Nairovirus (Bunyaviri...

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“…A superpopulação de animais errantes em área urbana constitui uma fonte de desordens na saúde pública, uma vez que tais animais se encontram expostos a vários tipos de doenças, inclusive de zoonoses, podendo atuar também como sentinelas para infecções em humanos (KAHL, 2018;KARASARTOVA et al, 2018;RECK et al, 2018;WIKEL, 2018). Em estudo realizado em um assentamento rural na região Sul do Brasil, observou-se que de 100 humanos expostos a picadas de carrapatos, cinco apresentaram soropositividade para Erlichia canis e E. chaffeensis (VIEIRA et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

Ectoparasitas De Cães Domiciliados E Errantes Do Município De Rio Branco-Acre

Fernandes¹,

Medeiros²,

Carvalho³

et al. 2018

Enci Bio

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RESUMO Inúmeros estudos relacionados à frequência das infestações por ectoparasitas vêm sendo realizados no Brasil e no mundo, porém não foram encontrados registros no Estado do Acre. Com o objetivo de estudar a epidemiologia das ectoparasitoses em cães domiciliados e errantes da área urbana do município de Rio Branco, Acre, foram coletados, sob inspeção visual, espécimes de ectoparasitas de cães para posterior identificação das espécies. Foram obtidas amostras de 171 animais parasitados, sendo 81 (47%) domiciliados e 90 (53%) não domiciliados, e 77 (45%) machos e 94 (55%) fêmeas. Quanto às infestações, 124 (73%) caracterizaram-se como simples e 47 (27%) como mistas. Foram identificadas sete espécies de ectoparasitas, entre carrapatos, pulgas, piolhos e ácaros causadores de sarna. A infestação por Rhipicephalus sanguineus foi a mais frequente, encontrada em 133 (77,7%) animais, seguida por Ctenocephalides felis felis que esteve presente em 50 animais (29%). Ainda, 20 animais (12%) apresentaram infestação por Otodectes cynotis, 15 (8,5 %) por Heterodoxus spinger, cinco (3%) por Demodex canis e o índice de um (1,1%) animal se repetiu tanto para a prevalência de com Sarcoptes scabiei como de Trichodectes canis. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: cães, carrapatos, parasitoses.

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Ticks and Tick-Borne Infections: Complex Ecology, Agents, and Host Interactions

Cited by 122 publications

References 209 publications

Handling the Microbial Complexity Associated to Ticks

Handling the Microbial Complexity Associated to Ticks

In Silico Analysis of Ixodid Tick Aqauporin-1 Protein as a Candidate Anti-Tick Vaccine Antigen

Ectoparasitas De Cães Domiciliados E Errantes Do Município De Rio Branco-Acre

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