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Ornithodoros brasiliensis

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ornithodoros brasiliensis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Ixodida
Family: Argasidae
Genus: Ornithodoros
Species:
O. brasiliensis
Binomial name
Ornithodoros brasiliensis
Aragão, 1923
Synonyms
  • Alectorobius (Theriodoros) brasiliensis Camicas et al., 1998
  • Argas brasiliensis Pinto, 1938
  • Ornithodoros (Pavlovskyella) brasiliensis Clifford, Kohls & Sonenshine, 1964

Ornithodoros brasiliensis is a species of tick in the family Argasidae, or soft-bodied ticks, that occurs exclusively in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.[1] O. brasiliensis is a known parasite of humans, dogs, and smaller mammals such as armadillos and skunks.[2]

Life cycle

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O. brasiliensis hatches from an egg into its larval state. The larval stage does not need to feed, and molts to a nymphal stage after roughly a week. The nymph will seek to feed within two days of molting, noticeably faster than other ticks in the genus Ornithodoros. [3] The ticks will progress through a total of 4-7 nymphal stages, spending roughly 30 days in each stage, before developing into adults.

Effects on host

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Tick toxicosis

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O. brasiliensis, like many other ticks, causes tick toxicosis in its host at the location of the bite. Tick toxicosis includes all of the non-infectious complications following a tick bite, caused by compounds found in the tick's saliva. O. brasiliensis bites have been observed to vary widely in their intensity of symptoms on a case-by-case basis. The symptoms include: slow healing lesions, blistering, localized swelling, muscle and cell degradation, and pruritus.[4] Symptoms from these bites have been reported to last as long as 20 weeks after the occurrence of the bite.

Vector transmission

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O. brasiliensis has been proven capable of carrying the microorganism Borrelia brasiliensis, a source of Lyme disease, in laboratory conditions, but no cases of vector transmission in the wild have been reported.[4]

References

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  1. ^ Ramirez, Diego Garcia; Landulfo, Gabriel Alves; Onofrio, Valeria Castilho; Simons, Simone Michaela; Reck, José; Martins, João Ricardo; Labruna, Marcelo Bahia; Barros-Battesti, Darci Moraes (2016-07-01). "Laboratory life cycle of Ornithodoros brasiliensis (Acari: Argasidae): An endemic tick from southern Brazil". Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases. 7 (5): 730–733. doi:10.1016/j.ttbdis.2016.03.001. ISSN 1877-959X. PMID 26972686.
  2. ^ Reck, José; Marks, Fernanda S.; Guimarães, Jorge A.; Termignoni, Carlos; Martins, João Ricardo (2013-02-01). "Epidemiology of Ornithodoros brasiliensis (mouro tick) in the southern Brazilian highlands and the description of human and animal retrospective cases of tick parasitism". Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases. 4 (1): 101–109. doi:10.1016/j.ttbdis.2012.09.004. ISSN 1877-959X. PMID 23238249.
  3. ^ Davis, Gordon E. (1952). "Observations on the Biology of the Argasid Tick, Ornithodoros brasiliensis Aragão, 1923, with the Recovery of a Spirochete, Borrelia brasiliensis, n. sp". The Journal of Parasitology. 38 (5): 473–476. doi:10.2307/3273927. ISSN 0022-3395. JSTOR 3273927. PMID 12991141.
  4. ^ a b Dall’Agnol, Bruno; Schott, Diogo; Padilha, Thamiris; Antunes, Paola; Souza, Ugo A.; Webster, Anelise; Souza, Getúlio D.; Ferreira, Carlos Alexandre S.; Reck, José (2019-12-01). "Clinical Findings Associated with Ornithodoros brasiliensis Tick Parasitism in Travelers, Southern Brazil". Wilderness & Environmental Medicine. 30 (4): 437–440. doi:10.1016/j.wem.2019.06.012. hdl:10923/18028. ISSN 1080-6032. PMID 31685323.