Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40663552›Full record

ArticlePloS one2025

Tick-wildlife host-pathogen network interactions in Northern Africa.

Marta Rafael, Amalia Segura, Rita Vaz-Rodrigues, David Relimpio, Oscar Rodríguez, Gabriela de la Fuente, Julio Isla, Christian Gortázar, José de la Fuente

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Marta RafaelSaBio. Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos IREC-CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ronda de Toledo 12, Ciudad Real, Spain.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5923-984X
Amalia SeguraBP 30, Sidi Allal el Bahraoui, Morocco.
Rita Vaz-RodriguesSaBio. Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos IREC-CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ronda de Toledo 12, Ciudad Real, Spain.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-7738
David RelimpioSaBio. Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos IREC-CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ronda de Toledo 12, Ciudad Real, Spain.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0005-7443-8667
Oscar RodríguezBP 30, Sidi Allal el Bahraoui, Morocco.
Gabriela de la FuenteSabiotec, Edificio incubadora de empresas UCLM, Camino de Moledores s/n, Ciudad Real, Spain.
Julio IslaSabiotec, Edificio incubadora de empresas UCLM, Camino de Moledores s/n, Ciudad Real, Spain.
Christian GortázarSaBio. Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos IREC-CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ronda de Toledo 12, Ciudad Real, Spain.
José de la FuenteSaBio. Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos IREC-CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ronda de Toledo 12, Ciudad Real, Spain.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7383-9649

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Ticks are hosts and vectors of zoonotic pathogens, posing a critical threat to public health and the conservation of animal host populations, especially in Northern Africa. Tick-host-pathogen interactions are driven by tick spatial distribution and abundance, and the influence of biotic (animal hosts) and abiotic (environmental conditions) factors. The objectives of this study, conducted in the Maamora Forest (Northwest Morocco), were: (i) description of seasonal interactions network between off-host questing ticks and the wild hosts, rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and addax (Addax nasomaculatus), (ii) analysis of density-dependent and environmental effects in questing and on-rabbit ticks, and (iii) identification of tick-borne pathogens in questing and on-addax ticks. Results showed that questing and on-rabbit ticks (Hyalomma lusitanicum, Rhipicephalus pusillus, and H. aegyptium) presented significant spatial and seasonal differences. Questing ticks were highly abundant in summer, but infestation on rabbits was higher in spring. Spatially, areas with contact between rabbits and ungulates showed the highest tick infestations during summer. Ticks from rabbits were density-dependent and had a positive relationship with questing ticks. Addax was infested by H. lusitanicum ticks. Tick network of interactions resulted in the presence of Coxiella burnetii in both questing and in addax ticks (17-27%), and Rickettsia aeschlimannii in H. lusitanicum questing ticks (4%). These results support that ticks represent a challenge for human and animal health, as well as ecosystems in Northern Africa, emphasizing the need for long-term studies on their network of interactions, seasonal activity patterns, and tick-borne pathogens in wildlife.

Indexed as

Animals, WildHost-Pathogen InteractionsTick InfestationsTicksAfrica, NorthernAnimalsMoroccoRabbitsSeasonsTick-Borne Diseases

Identifiers

PMID40663552
PMCPMC12262905

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.