Abstract
From January 2010 to December 2011, a total of 138 cases of ticks feeding on humans were reported from 11 locations in central Panama. Five of these locations were situated in forest environments, three in rural landscapes and three in urban areas. The ticks were submitted to the Gorgas Memorial Institute, where nine species were identified among 65 specimens: Amblyomma cajennense s.l., A. dissimile, A. naponense, A. oblongoguttatum, A. ovale, A. sabanerae, A. tapirellum, Haemaphysalis juxtakochi and Rhipicephalus sanguineus s.l. The remaining 73 specimens consisted of unidentified immature ticks, all belonging to the genus of Amblyomma. Rhipicephalus sanguineus s.l. was the species most frequently associated with humans, particularly in urban environments. In rural landscapes, tick bites were most often caused by A. cajennense s.l., whereas A. tapirellum was the species most often found parasitizing humans in forest environments. These data provide information on the tick species most commonly associated with humans in forested environments, rural areas and cities around the Panama Canal.
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Acknowledgments
We sincerely thanks to the people that give us the ticks, especially Diorene Smith in Summit Natural Park, researches and technicians from Barro Colorado Natural Monument and field workers to the projects: “Effect of anthropogenic climate change on the ecology of zoonotic and vector-borne diseases. Phase I” and “Epidemiología y ecología de enfermedades zoonóticas transmitidas por vectores (emergentes y re-emergentes) en Panamá”. Santiago Nava for critical and comment to early manuscript.
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Bermúdez C., S.E., Castro, A., Esser, H. et al. Ticks (Ixodida) on humans from central Panama, Panama (2010–2011). Exp Appl Acarol 58, 81–88 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-012-9564-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-012-9564-7