1. Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) infesting cattle and some other domestic and wild hosts on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica
- Author
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Grech-Angelini, Sébastien, Stachurski, Frédéric, Lancelot, Renaud, Boissier, Jérôme, Allienne, Jean-François, Marco, Sylvain, Maestrini, Oscar, Uilenberg, Gerrit, Laboratoire de Recherches sur le Développement de l’Elevage (UR 045), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Corsican Health Research (CHR), Contrôle des maladies animales exotiques et émergentes (UMR CMAEE), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad), Interactions Hôtes-Pathogènes-Environnements (IHPE), Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (UPVD)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université Pascal Paoli (UPP), A Surgente, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (UPVD), and French Ministry of Agriculture, General Directorate for Food (DGAl)
- Subjects
Male ,Identification ,Sus scrofa ,Ixodes ricinus ,Ticks (Ixodidae) ,Corsica ,Islands ,Haemaphysalis ,[SDV.BID.EVO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity/Populations and Evolution [q-bio.PE] ,Animal domestique ,Variation saisonnière ,Domestic animals ,Infectious Diseases ,Tick-Borne Diseases ,Animals, Domestic ,France ,Seasons ,L72 - Organismes nuisibles des animaux ,Faune ,Bétail ,Méthodologie ,Ixodidae ,Enquête organismes nuisibles ,Distribution géographique ,Cattle Diseases ,Animals, Wild ,Rhipicephalus sanguineus ,Wild animals ,lcsh:Infectious and parasitic diseases ,Hyalomma ,parasitic diseases ,Rhipicephalus ,Animals ,lcsh:RC109-216 ,Dermacentor ,Test biologique ,Ixodes ,Research ,Deer ,L60 - Taxonomie et géographie animales ,Biologie moléculaire ,Taxonomie ,Anatomie animale ,Animal sauvage ,Tick Infestations ,Parasitology ,Cattle ,Molecular identification ,U30 - Méthodes de recherche ,Boophilus annulatus ,Haemaphysalis punctata - Abstract
International audience; Background: Corsica is a mountainous French island in the north-western Mediterranean presenting a largediversity of natural environments where many interactions between domestic animals and wild fauna occur.Despite a favourable context for ticks and tick-borne diseases (TBDs), the tick fauna of Corsica has not systematicallybeen investigated.Methods: For one year (May 2014-May 2015), a survey of ticks infesting cattle was performed in the three Corsicancattle slaughterhouses. Two of these were visited monthly and one quarterly; the ticks were manually collected, justafter flaying. Ticks were identified on their morphology; when necessary, some specimens were also molecularlyidentified by sequencing mitochondrial cox1 (cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1) and 16S ribosomal RNA genes andITS2 (internal transcribed spacer 2). During the same period, ticks from other domestic animals (small ruminants,horses, domestic carnivores) and wild animals (wild boars, mouflons, deer) were occasionally collected.Results: A total of 1,938 ticks was collected from 264 of 418 cattle examined, reared in 86 different localities. Eighttick species were found infesting cattle: Rhipicephalus bursa (56.1 %), Hyalomma marginatum (21.5 %), Hy. scupense(8.7 %), Ixodes ricinus (5.7 %), Haemaphysalis punctata (4.8 %), Rh. sanguineus (sensu lato) (2.3 %), Rh. (Boophilus)annulatus (0.7 %) and Dermacentor marginatus (0.2 %). The cattle infestation rate remained high all year (more than50 %). Several tick species showed seasonal variation of their activity. From other Corsican animals 1,196 ticks werecollected. Comparing ticks collected from cattle with those found on other animals, several host preferences wereshown. A noteworthy record is that of a few Ha. sulcata on mouflons which were mainly infested by Rh. bursa.Conclusion: The Corsican tick fauna is characterized by typical Mediterranean species (Rh. bursa and Hy.marginatum), but the mild climate and diversified environment provide satisfactory habitats both for species usuallyfound in dry areas (Hy. scupense) and species usually collected in humid areas (I. ricinus).
- Published
- 2016
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