Arboviruses
79 Strains Found in Ticks
Until we look, and have the skill and technology needed, we do not know what ticks are carrying that can be transmitted to animals and humans. Below is a study from 1990 reporting 79 different arboviruses in ticks, including Chikungunya, which was once believed to only be transmitted by mosquitoes.
It is unclear if the CDC actually checked for the possibility of tick transmission in the Florida residents mentioned below, or if it was simply "assumed" the disease was contracted from mosquitoes.
CDC Quote- "The first locally acquired cases of chikungunya were reported in Florida on July 17, 2014. These cases represent the first time that mosquitoes in the continental United States are thought to have spread the virus to non-travelers."
Rev Elev Med Vet Pays Trop. 1990;43(1):15-22.
Ticks of the Ixodidae family as reservoir of arboviruses in the Republic of Guinea. II. Arboviruses.
[Article in French]
- 1Laboratoire de Virologie et de Microbiologie, IRBAG, Kindia, République de Guinée.
Abstract
From 1978 to 1985, 96,167 Ixodidae family were collected, from which 79 strains of the following arboviruses were isolated, i.e. 4 Bhanja strains, 9 CHF-Congo, 20 Dugbe, 24 Jos (viruses ecologically related to ticks), 10 Abadina, 7 Bluetongue, 1 Bunyamwera, 1 Chikungunya, (related to ticks for the first time), 1 Kindia and 2 Forecariah (new viruses).
The main sources for arbovirus isolation were ticks of the Amblyomma variegatum genus (78.5%) followed by ticks of the Boophilus (12.6%), Rhipicephalus (7.6%) and Haemaphysalis (1.3%) genera.
According to experimental data obtained in the laboratory and in the field involvement of A. variegatum as reservoir host for Abadina virus was established.
The seasonal dynamics characteristics of the propagation of this virus and its pathogenicity for cattle were also noticed.
Serological surveys on cattle (i.e. on about 7000 sera) showed that Abadina, Bluetongue, CHF-Congo, Dugbe viruses spread more actively, with 24-35% positive sera.
The rate of positive sera against Bhanja, Forecariah, Jos and RVF viruses did not exceed 0.9%.
During the study period, the arboviruses isolated from ticks did not play any important epidemiological role in human pathology of the Republic of Guinea.
PMID: 2263738 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]