Severe tick infestation in a hare and potential risk for transmitting pathogens to humans

Korean J Parasitol. 2011 Dec;49(4):419-22. doi: 10.3347/kjp.2011.49.4.419. Epub 2011 Dec 16.

Abstract

Severe tick infestation was found in a hare in a suburban area of Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China. We sampled ticks and identified them based on their morphologic characteristics. Three species, Ixodes sinensis, which is commonly found in China and can experimentally transmit Borrelia burgdorferi, Rhipicephalus haemaphysaloides, and Haemaphysalis longicornis which can transmit Lyme disease were detected with an optical microscope and a stereomicroscope. Risk of spreading ticks from suburban to urban areas exists due to human transportation and travel between the infested and non-infested areas around Nanchang.

Keywords: Haemaphysalis longicornis; Ixodes sinensis; Rhipicephalus haemaphysaloides; hare; tick infestation.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Arachnid Vectors / classification*
  • Arachnid Vectors / microbiology
  • Borrelia burgdorferi / physiology
  • China
  • Fatal Outcome
  • Female
  • Hares / parasitology*
  • Humans
  • Ixodidae / classification*
  • Ixodidae / microbiology
  • Lyme Disease / microbiology
  • Lyme Disease / transmission*
  • Male
  • Risk
  • Tick Infestations / parasitology
  • Tick Infestations / transmission
  • Tick Infestations / veterinary*