Ixodes ricinus is the most widespread and abundant tick in Europe, frequently bites humans, and is the vector of several pathogens including those responsible for Lyme disease, Tick-Borne Encephalitis, anaplasmosis, babesiosis and bartonellosis. These tick-borne pathogens are transmitted to vertebrate hosts via tick saliva during blood feeding, and tick salivary gland (SG) factors are likely im...

For pathogens transmitted by biting vectors, one of the fundamental assumptions is often that vector bites are the sole or main route of host infection. Here, we demonstrate experimentally a transmission route whereby hosts (red grouse, Lagopus lagopus scoticus) became infected with a member of the tick-borne encephalitis virus complex, louping ill virus, after eating the infected tick vector. ...

Ticks may transmit pathogens to ruminants worldwide, creating diseases such as anaplasmosis, babesiosis, ehrlichiosis and theileriosis. In Europe, the most important tick vector is Ixodes ricinus and the most widespread tick-borne infection in animals is Anaplasma phagocytophilum. This infection causes tick-borne fever (TBF) in ruminants, a disease which may not only cause suboptimal growth, bu...

Bartonella spp. are facultative intracellular vector-borne bacteria associated with several emerging diseases in humans and animals all over the world. The potential for involvement of ticks in transmission of Bartonella spp. has been heartily debated for many years. However, most of the data supporting bartonellae transmission by ticks come from molecular and serological epidemiological survey...

BACKGROUND The ongoing drought in sub-Saharan countries has led to the colonisation of west African Savanna by Ornithodoros sonrai; this tick acts as a vector for Borrelia crocidurae, which causes tick-borne relapsing fever (TBRF). Our aim was to ascertain the incidence of TBRF in west Africa. METHODS From 1990 to 2003, we monitored the incidence of TBRF in Dielmo, Senegal, by daily clinical ...

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) is one of the most geographically widespread arboviruses and causes a severe hemorrhagic syndrome in humans. The virus circulates in nature in a vertebrate-tick cycle and ticks of the genus Hyalomma are the main vectors and reservoirs. Although the tick vector plays a central role in the maintenance and transmission of CCHFV in nature, comparatively...

Rhode Island is a state with a high incidence of tick-borne diseases, specifically Lyme disease. The Ioxedes tick which serves as vector for the three most common tick infections is endemic in both the New England and mid-Atlantic regions. However, differences in the density of infections exist within Rhode Island (RI), with the highest densities in the southern counties. Tick-borne diseases ca...

Tick-borne borreliosis in West Africa is classically considered a rare disease whose geographic distribution is limited to Saharan and Sahelian regions. We report results of epidemiological investigations which indicate that tick-borne borreliosis is endemic in all regions of Senegal north to the 13 degrees 30'N latitude and is a major cause of morbidity in these areas. Our findings indicate a ...

This proposal represents the cooperative efforts of the international tick research community to develop the first large scale genomic analysis of a medically significant tick, namely Ixodes scapularis. Ticks transmit the greatest variety of human and animal pathogens of any arthropod vector and are second only to mosquitoes as vectors of human disease (Fivaz et al., 1992; Sonenshine and Mather...