ArticleParasites & vectors2018
Ticks are more suitable than red foxes for monitoring zoonotic tick-borne pathogens in northeastern Italy.
Article in Parasites & vectors, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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18 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- Infection rates, species diversity, and distribution of zoonotic Babesia parasites in ticks: a global systematic review and meta-analysis.Parasitology research · 2022Pooled it
- Identification and mapping of potential and highly likely vectors for selected vector-borne diseases in the EU and neighbouring countries.EFSA journal. European Food Safety Authority · 2026Article
- Epidemiology of tick-borne diseases diagnosed in patients in north-eastern Italy, 2015-2022.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Observational
- Habitat Suitability ofPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Prevalence of Lyme Disease and Relapsing FeverPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Italian peninsula as a hybridization zone of Ixodes inopinatus and I. ricinus and the prevalence of tick-borne pathogens in I. inopinatus, I. ricinus, and their hybrids.Parasites & vectors · 2024Article
- Nucleic Acid Prevalence of ZoonoticTropical medicine and infectious disease · 2023Review
- A Systematic Review of the Distribution of Tick-Borne Pathogens in Wild Animals and Their Ticks in the Mediterranean Rim between 2000 and 2021.Microorganisms · 2022Review
- Clinical Tick-Borne Encephalitis in a Roe Deer (Viruses · 2022Article
- The Role of Ticks in the Emergence ofMicroorganisms · 2021Review
- Occurrence and Identification ofPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Review
- Clinical and laboratory findings in tick-borne encephalitis virus infection.Parasite epidemiology and control · 2020Article
- Tick-borne pathogens in Ixodidae ticks collected from privately-owned dogs in Italy: a country-wide molecular survey.BMC veterinary research · 2020Article
- Molecular Survey on Vector-Borne Pathogens in Alpine Wild Carnivorans.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2020Article
- Molecular Detection ofFrontiers in veterinary science · 2019Article
- Zoonotic Babesia: A scoping review of the global evidence.PloS one · 2019Article
- Diversity ofFrontiers in veterinary science · 2018Review
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundNortheastern Italy is a hotspot for several tick-borne pathogens, transmitted to animals and humans mainly by Ixodes ricinus. Here we compare the results of molecular monitoring of ticks and zoonotic TBPs over a six-year period, with the monitoring of red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in an endemic area.
resultsIn the period 2011-2016, 2,578 ticks were collected in 38 sites of 20 municipalities of Belluno Province. Individual adults (264), pooled larvae (n = 330) and nymphs (n = 1984) were screened for tick-borne encephalitis virus, Borrelia burgdorferi (s.l.), Rickettsia spp., Babesia spp., Anaplasma phagocytophilum and "Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis" by specific SYBR green real-time PCR assays and sequencing. The spleens of 97 foxes, culled in the period 2015-2017 during sport hunting or population control programs, were also screened. Overall, nine different pathogens were found in I. ricinus nymph and adult ticks: Rickettsia helvetica (3.69%); R. monacensis (0.49%); four species of the B. burgdorferi (s.l.) complex [B. afzelii (1.51%); B. burgdorferi (s.s.) (1.25%); B. garinii (0.18%); and B. valaisiana (0.18%)]; A. phagocytophilum (3.29%); "Candidatus N. mikurensis" (1.73%); and Babesia venatorum (0.04%). Larvae were collected and screened in the first year only and two pools (0.6%) were positive for R. helvetica. Tick-borne encephalitis virus was not found in ticks although human cases do occur in the area. The rate of infection in ticks varied widely according to tick developmental stage, site and year of collection. As expected, adults were the most infected, with 27.6% harboring at least one pathogen compared to 7.3% of nymphs. Pathogens with a minimum infection rate above 1% were recorded every year. None of the pathogens found in ticks were detectable in the foxes, 52 (54%) of which were instead positive for Babesia cf. microti (also referred to as Babesia microti-like, "Theileria annae", "Babesia annae" and "Babesia vulpes").
conclusionsThe results show that foxes cannot be used as sentinel animals to monitor tick-borne pathogens in the specific epidemiological context of northeastern Italy. The high prevalence of Babesia cf. microti in foxes and its absence in ticks strongly suggests that I. ricinus is not the vector of this pathogen.
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