Ticks (Ixodida) on humans from central Panama, Panama (2010–2011)

Bermúdez, Sergio; Castro, Angélica; Esser, Helen J.; Liefting, Yorick; García, Gleydis; Miranda, Roberto J.

doi:10.1007/s10493-012-9564-7

Cited by 32 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…This park consists of a large garden and a zoo with animals representing Panamanian fauna (13,14). We obtained serum samples from garden workers, animal keepers, education personnel, administration and maintenance staff.…”

Section: Study Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evidencia serológica de infecciones de Rickettsia en humanos provenientes de tres localidades de Panamá

et al. 2012

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Introduction:Since the middle of last century, cases of rickettsiosis have been found in Panamá when outbreaks of murine typhus and spotted fever were reported. Since then, little information exists about its prevalence in this country, since it is most often is misdiagnosed as another disease. Objectives: The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the presence of Rickettsia infections in humans in three locations in Panamá. These locations are agricultural areas, near forested areas or those who work in zoo. Materials and methods: Three locations where chosen for this study: Tortí, El Valle de Antón and workers in the Summit Municipal Park in Panamá City. All volunteers signed an informed consent and answered a questionnaire. The samples were analyzed for the detection of rickettsial spotted fever and typhus group by the indirect immunofluorescence (using commercial kits) and antigens of Rickettsia rickettsii and R. amblyommii. Results: Blood samples were taken from 97 volunteers in Tortí (25), El Valle de Anton (37) and Summit Municipal Park (35). Of these, a total of 38 (39%) samples reacted to one of the two methods: eight (32%) in Tortí, 18 (48%) in El valle and 12 (34%) in Summit Municipal Park. Conclusion:The results show a high prevalence of antibodies to Rickettsia belonging to the spotted fever group in each of the three study areas, in addition to presenting evidence of the typhus group Rickettsia in El Valle de Anton. These areas could be considered endemic for rickettsiosis as there are conditions for maintaining them.

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Section: Study Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With respect to volunteers working in the SMP, they not only showed exposure to ticks in the park, but also claimed to have pets at home. At least 17 species of ticks have recently been reported for this park, including species that can potentially parasitize humans (13,14).…”

Section: Discusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidencia serológica de infecciones de Rickettsia en humanos provenientes de tres localidades de Panamá

et al. 2012

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“…There has been a recent reemergence in Panama of Rickettsia rickettsii with 15 confirmed cases and 13 deaths associated with this pathogen (Estripeaut et al 2007;Tribaldos et al 2011;De Lucas et al 2013). Furthermore, other known and suspected rickettsial agents such as R. felis and R. amblyommii have been detected during environmental sampling of ticks (Bermúdez et al 2012b). Rickettsia amblyommii has been associated with mild febrile illness and/or rash around the bite ; however, no recorded clinical cases of this infection currently exist in Panama (Bermúdez et al 2009(Bermúdez et al , 2011.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ticks and tick-borne pathogens of dogs along an elevational and land-use gradient in Chiriquí province, Panamá

et al. 2017

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Systematic acarological surveys are useful tools in assessing risk to tick-borne infections, especially in areas where consistent clinical surveillance for tick-borne disease is lacking. Our goal was to identify environmental predictors of tick burdens on dogs and tick-borne infectious agents in dog-derived ticks in the Chiriquí Province of western Panama to draw inferences about spatio-temporal variation in human risk to tick-borne diseases. We used a model-selection approach to test the relative importance of elevation, human population size, vegetative cover, and change in landuse on patterns of tick parasitism on dogs. We collected 2074 ticks, representing four species (Rhipicephalus sanguineus, R. microplus, Amblyomma ovale, and Ixodes boliviensis) from 355 dogs. Tick prevalence ranged from 0 to 74% among the sites we sampled, and abundance ranged from 0 to 20.4 ticks per dog with R. sanguineus s.l. being the most commonly detected tick species (97% of all ticks sampled). Whereas elevation was the best single determinant of tick prevalence and abundance on dogs, the top models also included predictor variables describing vegetation cover and landuse change. Specifically, low-elevation areas associated with decreasing vegetative cover were associated with highest tick occurrence on dogs, potentially because of the affinity of R. sanguineus for human dwellings. Although we found low prevalence of tick-borne pathogen genera (two Rickettsia-positive ticks, no R. rickettsia or Ehrlichia spp.) in our study, all of the tick species we collected from dogs are known vectors of zoonotic pathogens. In areas where epidemiological surveillance infrastructure is limited, field-based assessments of acarological risk can be useful and cost-effective tools in efforts to identify high-risk environments for tick-transmitted pathogens.

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“…These studies have focused on tick species associated with humans and domesticated animals, likely due to their role as vectors of disease agents 1, 2, 4 . However, basic knowledge about tick natural history still remains largely unexplored, especially for those taxa that thrive in tropical forests.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Amblyomma tapirellum (Acari: Ixodidae) collected from tropical forest canopy

et al. 2014

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Free-ranging ticks are widely known to be restricted to the ground level of vegetation. Here, we document the capture of the tick species Amblyomma tapirellum in light traps placed in the forest canopy of Barro Colorado Island, central Panama. A total of forty eight adults and three nymphs were removed from carbon dioxide–octenol baited CDC light traps suspended 20 meters above the ground during surveys for forest canopy mosquitoes. To our knowledge, this represents the first report of questing ticks from the canopy of tropical forests. Our finding suggests a novel ecological relationship between A. tapirellum and arboreal mammals, perhaps monkeys that come to the ground to drink or to feed on fallen fruits.

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Ticks (Ixodida) on humans from central Panama, Panama (2010–2011)

Cited by 32 publications

References 25 publications

Evidencia serológica de infecciones de Rickettsia en humanos provenientes de tres localidades de Panamá

Evidencia serológica de infecciones de Rickettsia en humanos provenientes de tres localidades de Panamá

Ticks and tick-borne pathogens of dogs along an elevational and land-use gradient in Chiriquí province, Panamá

Amblyomma tapirellum (Acari: Ixodidae) collected from tropical forest canopy

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