• Korean journal of applied entomology
• /
• v.61 no.1
• /
• pp.91-100
• /
• 2022

Ticks are the arthropod vector capable of transmitting diverse pathogens, which include bacteria, viruses, protozoan and fungi. Ticks are able to survive under stressful environmental conditions. One of evolutionary outcomes of these obligatory hematophagous arthropods is the survival for extended periods of time without a blood meal during off-host periods. Water conservation biology and heat tolerance have allowed ticks to thrive even under high temperatures and low relative humidity, thus they have become highly successful arthropods as they are distributed globally. Tick osmoregulatory physiology is a complex mechanism, which involves multiple osmoregulatory organs (salivary glands, Malpighian tubules, hindgut and synganglion) for the acquisition and excretion of water and ions. Blood feeding and water vapor uptake have been early reported as the primary passages for ixodid tick to acquire water. Recently, we have learned that ticks can actively drink environmental water allowing hydration. The acquired water can be traced to the salivary glands (type I acini) and the midgut diverticula. This opens new avenues for tick management through the delivery of toxic agents into their drinking water, in addition to an alternative strategy for the study of tick physiology. Here we address the osmoregulatory physiology in the ixodid ticks as a potential target physiological mechanism for tick control. We discuss the implications of water drinking behavior for tick control through the delivery of toxic agents and discuss the dermal excretion physiology as an additional pathway to induce tick dehydration and tick death.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.56 no.1
• /
• pp.53-59
• /
• 2018

Tick saliva is critically important for continuous attachment to the host, blood feeding for days, and transmission of tick-borne pathogens. To characterize the patterns of inflammatory cytokine gene expression during its attachment and blood sucking time, peripheral blood samples of rabbits infested with Haemaphysalis longicornis ticks were collected at different intervals. Blood histamine concentration was evaluated as well as gene encoding IFN-${\gamma}$, TNF-${\alpha}$, IL-2, IL-6, IL-4, and IL-10 were compared with non-infested rabbits. Blood histamine concentration of tick-infested rabbits during fast feeding time was significantly higher than that of non-infested rabbits. In both nymph and adult tick infested rabbits, expression of TNF-${\alpha}$ and IFN-${\gamma}$ genes were decreased significantly (P<0.05), while expression of IL-4, IL-6, and IL-10 were increased 1.3 to 7 folds in adult infested rabbits with the exception of IL-6 that was significantly (P<0.05) decreased in nymph infested rabbits. IL-2 was not expressed in either nymph or adult infestation. H. longicornis saliva is capable of modulate host responses through a complex correlation with histamine and Th1, Th2 mediated cytokines that suppress the inflammatory responses directed toward inflammatory mediators introduced into the host during tick feeding.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.48 no.4
• /
• pp.313-317
• /
• 2010

A case of tick bite was found in the inguinal region of a 74-year-old Korean woman. She was attacked by the tick while working in her vegetable garden in the vicinity of mountain located in Suncheon City, the southern coastal area of the Korean Peninsula. On admission she complained of mild discomfort and itching around the bite area. The causative tick was 23 mm long and had slender pedipalps. The scutum was quite ornate and had eyes at the edge. The genital aperture was located anterior to the level of the coxa II. The spiracular plate was comma-shaped and the anus was surrounded posteriorly by the anal groove. The coxa I had subequal 2 spurs; the external one slightly larger. The spur of coxa IV was slightly longer than those of coxae II and III. The tarsus IV had 2 distinct subapical ventral spurs. It was identified as the fully engorged adult female of Amblyomma testudinarium. This is the first human case of Amblyomma bite in Korea.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.42 no.4
• /
• pp.195-200
• /
• 2004

We investigated the induction of resistance to Haemaphysalis longicornis infestation in rabbits that had been immunized with recombinant H. longicornis P27/30 protein. The success of immunological control methods is dependent upon the use of potential key antigens as tick vaccine candidates. Previously, we cloned a gene encoding 27 kDa and 30 kDa proteins (P27/30) of H. longicornis, and identified P27/30 as a troponin I-like protein. In this study, rabbits that were immunized with recombinant P27/30 expressed in Escherichia coli showed the statistically significant longer feeding duration for larval and adult ticks (P<0.05), low engorgement rates in larval ticks (64.4%), and an apparent reduction in egg weights, which suggest that H. longicornis P27/30 protein is a potential candidate antigen for a tick vaccine. These results demonstrated that the recombinant P27/30 protein might be a useful vaccine candidate antigen for biological control of H. longicornis.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.55 no.5
• /
• pp.565-568
• /
• 2017

An oval-shaped mass with a smooth surface was found in the ear canal of a 22-month-old male infant. Although the mass appeared to be almost entirely blocking the ear canal, it was successfully removed under a surgical microscope without general anesthesia at the outpatient department. Under an optical microscope with hematoxylin and eosin staining, the specimen was observed to have a cuticle with a serrated surface and a pore canal, as well as parts of the capitulum, salivary glands, muscles, midgut, and the legs. The specimen was identified as a hard tick of the family Ixodidae, based on gross and histological findings. This paper is the first report in Korea on the diagnosis and treatment of a tick bite in the ear canal.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.36 no.1
• /
• pp.59-62
• /
• 1998

A human case of the tick bite on the back of 36-year-old man was found in September 1995. On admission he complained of itching sensation and pain at the site. The removed tick was identified morphologically as fxones nipponensis.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.27 no.11
• /
• pp.1663-1670
• /
• 2014

The objective of this study was to determine the perceptions and knowledge of farmers of heat stress and tick resistance in cattle. A cross-sectional survey was conducted and 110 farmers in four villages in the sour and sweet velds of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa were interviewed. The associations among area (municipality), gender, age, level of education, employment and religion were computed using Chi-square tests. The majority of the respondents had on average 4 bulls, 4 cows, 4 heifers, 4 calves, and 4 oxen. Milk was considered as the major (28.3%) reason for keeping cattle. Most farmers owned non-descript (72.6%), and Nguni (45.3%) cattle because of their heat tolerance (54.7%), tick resistance (54.7%), and milking ability (28.2%) traits. Excessive panting (56.6%) and disease transmission (76%) were regarded as the major effects of heat stress and tick infestation in cattle, respectively. About 50% of the respondents agreed that hair length influences tick resistance and 47.17% considered coat colour when acquiring cattle. In the sampled areas, ticks were prevalent in the summer season (93%), and 77.36% of the respondents use acaricides every fortnight. Gall sickness was reported to be a major problem in the cattle herds by 36.79% of the respondents. Our results showed that farmers in the two municipalities had knowledge of cattle adaptation to heat stress and tick resistance.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.56 no.6
• /
• pp.589-596
• /
• 2018

Ticks are the vectors of various pathogens, threatening human health and animal production across the globe. Here, for the first time we detected Ricketssia spp., Borrelia spp. and protozoan in ticks from Poyang Lake region in Jiangxi Province of eastern China. In 3 habitat categories and on 12 host species, 311 ticks from 11 species were collected. Haemaphysalis longicornis was the predominant species, accounting for 55.63%, followed by Rhipicephalus microplus, Haemaphysalis flava and Ixodes granulatus. Of the collected ticks, 7.07% were positive for tick-borne pathogens, and H. longicornis and H. flava were found to be co-infected with Ricketssia spp. and protozoan. H. flava was the most detected positive for tick-borne pathogens, whereas H. longicornis had the lowest infection rate, and the difference in infection rates between tick species was significant (${\chi}^2=61.24$, P<0.001). Furthermore, adult ticks demonstrated remarkably greater infection rate than immature ticks (${\chi}^2=10.12$, P=0.018), meanwhile ticks on Erinaceidae showed significantly higher positivity than ticks collected on other host species (${\chi}^2=108.44$, P<0.001). Genetic fragment sequencing and analyses showed at least 4 pathogen species presence in ticks, namely Borrelia yangtzensis, Rickettsia slovaca or Rickettsia raoultii related genospecies, Babesia vogeli and Hepatozoon canis or Hepatozoon felis related genospecies. The finding indicates that the abundant ticks can carry diverse pathogens in Poyang Lake region, and pathogen infection is highly related to species, vertebrate hosts and life stages of ticks.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
• /
• v.62 no.2
• /
• pp.95-102
• /
• 2023

The number of households with pets has increased in recent years. Consequently, interest in mites and their odors has increased. In this study, we investigated whether pyrethrum extract and water-soluble phytoncides are effective tick repellents, deodorizing agents, and antibacterial agents. In the tick-climbing test, the pyrethrum extract (23.33 points) and water-soluble phytoncide (22.00 points) showed a high repelling effect. To confirm the tick avoidance effect of the composite extract, a tick climbing test was conducted with a pest control extract, a composite extract (referred to as a sample) containing a water-soluble phytoncide, and a third-party product (control). The sample showed a high avoidance effect (13.00 points and Control 26.67 points. An indoor repellent efficacy test for ticks confirmed that the sample showed an excellent tick-repellent effect (88%) compared to the control (12%). As a result of a deodorization test, ammonia was shown to have a deodorizing effect of 98.3% and trimethylamine of 99.5%, whereas, in the antibacterial test, the E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and pneumonia groups showed an antibacterial effect of 99.9%. Combining the results of this study, it is judged that the complex extract including the above material has high utility value as a material that is effective in mite repellents, deodorization, and antibacterial activity.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.55 no.5
• /
• pp.481-489
• /
• 2017

Tick-borne pathogens can cause serious problems in grazing cattle. However, little information is available on tick-mediated diseases in cattle grazing on mountains. Thus, this study aimed to understand the potential problems related to tick-borne diseases in grazing cattle through the investigation of prevalent tick-transmitted infections, and their associated hematological changes, in terms of season and grazing type in Korean indigenous cattle (=Hanwoo). Hanwoo cattle from 3 regions of the Republic of Korea (=Korea) were either maintained indoors or placed on grassy mountains from spring to fall of 2014 and 2015. Cattle that grazed in mountainous areas showed a greater prevalence of tick-borne infections with an increased Theileria orientalis infection rate (54.7%) compared to that in non-grazing cattle (16.3%) (P<0.001). Accordingly, the red blood cell (RBC) count and hematocrit (HCT) values of grazing cattle were significantly lower than those of non-grazing cattle throughout the season (P<0.05). Moreover, RBC, hemoglobin (Hb), and HCT of T. orientalis-positive group were significantly lower than those of T. orientalis-negative group (P<0.05). T. orientalis is a widespread tick-borne pathogen in Korea. Grazing of cattle in mountainous areas is closely associated with an increase in T. orientalis infection (RR=3.4, P<0.001), and with consequent decreases in RBC count and HCT. Thus, these findings suggest that the Hanwoo cattle in mountainous areas of Korea are at a high risk of infection by T. orientalis, which can lead to hematological alterations. This study highlights the necessity of preventive strategies that target T. orientalis infection.