Study on Ticks and Tick-Borne Zoonoses in Public Parks in Italy

• Published in: Zoonoses and public health Vol. 59; no. 7; pp. 468 - 476
• Main Authors: Corrain, R., Drigo, M., Fenati, M., Menandro, M. L., Mondin, A., Pasotto, D., Martini, M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-11-2012
• Subjects: Animals; Arachnid Vectors - microbiology; Arachnids; Bartonella; Bartonella - genetics; Bartonella - isolation & purification; Bartonella Infections - epidemiology; Bartonella Infections - microbiology; Base Sequence; Borrelia; Borrelia burgdorferi - genetics; Borrelia burgdorferi - isolation & purification; DNA, Bacterial - isolation & purification; Female; Humans; Infectious diseases; Italy - epidemiology; Ixodes - microbiology; Larva; Lyme Disease - epidemiology; Lyme Disease - microbiology; Male; Molecular Sequence Data; Nymph; Parks & recreation areas; Prevalence; Public parks; Rhipicephalus sanguineus - microbiology; Rickettsia; Rickettsia - genetics; Rickettsia - isolation & purification; Rickettsia Infections - epidemiology; Rickettsia Infections - microbiology; Risk Factors; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Ticks; Zoonoses; Italy; Imola Italy
• ISSN: 1863-1959; 1863-2378
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1863-2378.2012.01490.x

Summary
A survey on tick density and on tick‐borne zoonoses was carried out in four public parks in the outskirts of Imola (northern Italy) from June to October 2006. All stages of Ixodes ricinus and only larvae of Riphicephalus sanguineus were recovered by dragging, performed on 100‐m transects. Almost all ticks (99%) were harvested in one park. I. ricinus density (nymphs/100 m2) ranged from 0 in park L to 6.3 in park F. Nymphs and adults of I. ricinus were subjected to PCR for Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Bartonella spp., Borrelia burgdorferi s. l. and Rickettsia spp. The observed prevalences were 38.3% for Bartonella henselae, 5.2% for Bartonella clarridgeiae, 10.4% for B. burgdorferi s. l., 2.6% for Rickettsia helvetica and 13% for Rickettsia monacensis, respectively. No DNA of A. phagocytophilum was found. Acarological risks (AR) were calculated as probabilities of collecting at least one infected nymph per transect. The AR values calculated for the various zoonotic agents were 11.4% for R. helvetica, 27.7% for B. clarridgeiae, 49.7% for B. burgdorferi s. l., 57.2% for R. monacensis and 90.4% for B. henselae, respectively. In this study, B. clarridgeiae was for the first time identified in I. ricinus ticks.