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Tick infestation in spur-thighed tortoise population: a pilot study for unraveling epidemiological patterns and demographic consequences
Ectoparasites, such as ticks, modulate host population dynamics by impacting demographic traits. They transmit infectious agents among their hosts, posing a critical threat to animal and public health. This study aimed to characterize and analyze the Hyalomma aegyptium infestation on one of its main...
Autores principales: | , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Springer International Publishing
2023
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10689538/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37973690 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10493-023-00863-7 |
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author | Segura, Amalia Rafael, Marta Vaz-Rodrigues, Rita Rodríguez, Oscar Gortázar, Christian de la Fuente, José |
author_facet | Segura, Amalia Rafael, Marta Vaz-Rodrigues, Rita Rodríguez, Oscar Gortázar, Christian de la Fuente, José |
author_sort | Segura, Amalia |
collection | PubMed |
description | Ectoparasites, such as ticks, modulate host population dynamics by impacting demographic traits. They transmit infectious agents among their hosts, posing a critical threat to animal and public health. This study aimed to characterize and analyze the Hyalomma aegyptium infestation on one of its main hosts, the spur-thighed tortoise, its effects on demographic traits, and to determine the diversity of infectious agents present in both ticks and tortoises in the Maamora forest (northwestern Morocco). Our results show that 100% of the tortoises were parasitized by adult ticks in spring, an infestation intensity of 4 ticks/tortoise (5.1 and 3.6 ticks/tortoise in males and females, respectively; 4.2 and 3.3 ticks/tortoise in gravid and non-gravid females, respectively) and an abundance ranging from 1 to 12. Although without significant differences, male tortoises had higher tick abundances than females. The interaction of tortoise sex and body condition was significantly related to tick abundance, male body condition decreased with higher tick abundance in contrast to females. Nevertheless, the interaction of body condition and reproductive stage of females was not significantly related to tick abundance. Gravid females were significantly associated with tick abundance, showing a slightly higher infestation than non-gravid females. Molecular analysis of pooled tick samples revealed the presence of Ehrlichia ewingii, Candidatus Midichloria mitochondrii, and Rickettsia africae, with a minimum infection rate of 0.61 to 1.84%. However, blood sample analysis of the tortoises was infectious agent-free, pinpointing a lack of significant health problems. Given the possible effect on the transmission of zoonotic diseases by spur-thighed tortoises associated with their frequent collection as pets, it should be surveyed to control possible human health problems. In conservation terms, as a long-lived species, the role of tick infestation in demographic traits might be included in the management and conservation programs of spur-thighed tortoises. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10493-023-00863-7. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-10689538 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2023 |
publisher | Springer International Publishing |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-106895382023-12-02 Tick infestation in spur-thighed tortoise population: a pilot study for unraveling epidemiological patterns and demographic consequences Segura, Amalia Rafael, Marta Vaz-Rodrigues, Rita Rodríguez, Oscar Gortázar, Christian de la Fuente, José Exp Appl Acarol Research Ectoparasites, such as ticks, modulate host population dynamics by impacting demographic traits. They transmit infectious agents among their hosts, posing a critical threat to animal and public health. This study aimed to characterize and analyze the Hyalomma aegyptium infestation on one of its main hosts, the spur-thighed tortoise, its effects on demographic traits, and to determine the diversity of infectious agents present in both ticks and tortoises in the Maamora forest (northwestern Morocco). Our results show that 100% of the tortoises were parasitized by adult ticks in spring, an infestation intensity of 4 ticks/tortoise (5.1 and 3.6 ticks/tortoise in males and females, respectively; 4.2 and 3.3 ticks/tortoise in gravid and non-gravid females, respectively) and an abundance ranging from 1 to 12. Although without significant differences, male tortoises had higher tick abundances than females. The interaction of tortoise sex and body condition was significantly related to tick abundance, male body condition decreased with higher tick abundance in contrast to females. Nevertheless, the interaction of body condition and reproductive stage of females was not significantly related to tick abundance. Gravid females were significantly associated with tick abundance, showing a slightly higher infestation than non-gravid females. Molecular analysis of pooled tick samples revealed the presence of Ehrlichia ewingii, Candidatus Midichloria mitochondrii, and Rickettsia africae, with a minimum infection rate of 0.61 to 1.84%. However, blood sample analysis of the tortoises was infectious agent-free, pinpointing a lack of significant health problems. Given the possible effect on the transmission of zoonotic diseases by spur-thighed tortoises associated with their frequent collection as pets, it should be surveyed to control possible human health problems. In conservation terms, as a long-lived species, the role of tick infestation in demographic traits might be included in the management and conservation programs of spur-thighed tortoises. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10493-023-00863-7. Springer International Publishing 2023-11-16 2023 /pmc/articles/PMC10689538/ /pubmed/37973690 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10493-023-00863-7 Text en © The Author(s) 2023 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) . |
spellingShingle | Research Segura, Amalia Rafael, Marta Vaz-Rodrigues, Rita Rodríguez, Oscar Gortázar, Christian de la Fuente, José Tick infestation in spur-thighed tortoise population: a pilot study for unraveling epidemiological patterns and demographic consequences |
title | Tick infestation in spur-thighed tortoise population: a pilot study for unraveling epidemiological patterns and demographic consequences |
title_full | Tick infestation in spur-thighed tortoise population: a pilot study for unraveling epidemiological patterns and demographic consequences |
title_fullStr | Tick infestation in spur-thighed tortoise population: a pilot study for unraveling epidemiological patterns and demographic consequences |
title_full_unstemmed | Tick infestation in spur-thighed tortoise population: a pilot study for unraveling epidemiological patterns and demographic consequences |
title_short | Tick infestation in spur-thighed tortoise population: a pilot study for unraveling epidemiological patterns and demographic consequences |
title_sort | tick infestation in spur-thighed tortoise population: a pilot study for unraveling epidemiological patterns and demographic consequences |
topic | Research |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10689538/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37973690 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10493-023-00863-7 |
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