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Ticks on captive and free-living wild animals in northeastern Brazil

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Abstract

From 2005 to 2009, 147 ticks found on 32 wild animals from or referred to two zoobotanical parks (Parque Zoobotânico Arruda Câmara and Parque Estadual Dois Irmãos) located in northeastern Brazil were identified. Ticks found on two veterinarians working in one of the parks (i.e., Parque Estadual Dois Irmãos), after return from forested areas within the park’s territory, were also identified. The following tick-host associations were recorded: Amblyomma fuscum Neumann on Boa constrictor L.; Amblyomma longirostre Koch on Ramphastos vitellinus ariel Vigors and Coendou prehensilis (L.); Amblyomma varium Koch on Bradypus variegates Schinz; Amblyomma rotundatum Koch on Chelonoidis carbonaria (Spix), Chelonoidis denticulata (L.), Micrurus ibiboboca (Merrem), Python molurus bivittatus Kuhl, Iguana iguana (L.) and B. variegatus; Amblyomma nodosum Neumann on Myrmecophaga tridactyla L. and Tamandua tetradactyla (L.); and Rhipicephalus sanguineus (Latreille) on Nasua nasua (L.). The ticks found on the veterinarians were identified as nine Amblyomma larvae. The presence of Am. nodosum in Pernambuco and Am. rotundatum and Am. varium in Paraíba is recorded for the first time and the occurrence of Am. longirostre in Pernambuco is confirmed. Ramphastos vitellinus ariel is a new host record for Am. longirostre whereas M. ibiboboca and B. variegatus are new host records for Am. rotundatum. Finally, the human parasitism by Amblyomma ticks is reported for the first time in Pernambuco, highlighting the potential of tick-borne pathogen transmission in this state.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Parque Zoobotânico Arruda Câmara and the Parque Estadual Dois Irmãos for allowing us to develop this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Sanità Pubblica e Zootecnia, Università degli Studi di Bari, 70010, Valenzano, Bari, Italy

    Filipe Dantas-Torres

  2. Departamento de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, 52171-900, Brazil

    Débora R. A. Ferreira

  3. Fundação Parque Zoológico de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, 04301-905, Brazil

    Louise M. de Melo

  4. Parque Estadual Dois Irmãos, Recife, PE, 52171-011, Brazil

    Polly-Ana C. P. Lima, Daniel B. Siqueira, Luciana C. Rameh-de-Albuquerque, Adriana V. de Melo & Janaina A. C. Ramos

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  1. Filipe Dantas-Torres
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  2. Débora R. A. Ferreira
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  3. Louise M. de Melo
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  4. Polly-Ana C. P. Lima
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  5. Daniel B. Siqueira
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  6. Luciana C. Rameh-de-Albuquerque
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  7. Adriana V. de Melo
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  8. Janaina A. C. Ramos
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Correspondence to Filipe Dantas-Torres.

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Dantas-Torres, F., Ferreira, D.R.A., de Melo, L.M. et al. Ticks on captive and free-living wild animals in northeastern Brazil. Exp Appl Acarol 50, 181–189 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-009-9296-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-009-9296-5

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