Journal of Medical Entomology (2022) 59, 1749-1755

Suppaluck Polsomboon Nelson, Brian P. Bourke, Razan Badr, John Tarpey, Laura Caicedo-Quiroga, Donovan Leiva, Marie Pott, Alvaro Cruz, Chien-Chung Chao, Nicole L. Achee, John P. Grieco, Le Jiang, Ju Jiang, Christina M. Farris and Yvonne-Marie Linton (2022)
Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) and associated pathogens collected from domestic animals and vegetation in Stann Creek District, southeastern Belize, Central America
Journal of Medical Entomology 59 (5), 1749-1755
Abstract: Data on the prevalence and distribution of ticks and tick-borne diseases in Belize are lacking. Ticks (n = 564) collected from dogs, horses, and vegetation in two villages in Stann Creek District in southeastern Belize in 2018, were molecularly identified and screened for tick-borne nonviral human pathogens. The identity of 417 ticks was molecularly confirmed by DNA barcoding as Rhipicephalus sanguineus (Latreille) (66.43%), Amblyomma ovale Koch (15.59%), Dermacentor nitens Neumann (11.51%), Amblyomma sp. ADB0528 (3.6%), and the remainder being small records (2.87%) of Amblyomma coelebs Neumann, Amblyomma imitator Kohls, Amblyomma tapirellum Dunn, Amblyomma auricularium Conil, and Amblyomma maculatum Koch. Individual tick extracts were screened for the presence of Rickettsia spp., Babesia spp., Babesia microti, Borrelia spp., Ehrlichia spp., and Anaplasma spp. using available conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays. Rickettsia parkeri strain Atlantic Rainforest was identified in five specimens of A. ovale, and one other unidentified tick, all collected from dogs. Another unidentified tick—also collected from a dog—tested positive for an undefined but previously detected Ehrlichia sp. With the exception of D. nitens, all eight other tick species identified in this study were collected on dogs, suggesting that dogs could be usefully employed as sentinel animals for tick surveillance in Belize.
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Database assignments for author(s): Yvonne-Marie Linton

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
surveys/sampling/distribution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Rhipicephalus sanguineus		Belize
	Amblyomma maculatum		Belize
	Dermacentor nitens		Belize
	Amblyomma imitator		Belize
	Amblyomma ovale		Belize
	Amblyomma auricularium		Belize
	Amblyomma coelebs		Belize
	Amblyomma tapirellum		Belize