Prevalence of Tick-Borne Pathogens in Ixodes Ricinus Ticks Collected from Autumn Migratory Birds in Latvia

  • Alise Birnbauma (Speaker)
  • Lauma Freimane (Co-author)
  • Valentina Čapligina (Co-author)
  • Agne Namina (Co-author)
  • Sadovska, D. (Co-author)
  • Maija Seleznova (Co-author)
  • Oskars Keišs (Co-author)
  • Ranka, R. (Co-author)

Activity: Talk or presentation types › Poster presentation

Description

Birds play an important role for dissemination of tick-borne pathogens to both nearby and remote localities, and also can act as reservoir hosts. In this study, tick infestation of birds in Latvia was examined and prevalence of tick-borne pathogens in bird ticks was studied.. Ticks were collected from resident and migratory birds captured at the Pape Ornithology Station, Latvia, during the autumn migration season in 2018. Ticks were molecularly identified to species, and morphologically to developmental stage, and the presence of tick-borne pathogens was determined by molecular methods.. In total, 1220 nymphs and larvae were collected from 369 birds. Tick-infested birds belonged to 38 different species, of which European robin (Erithacus rubecula), blackbird (Turdus merula), song thrush (Turdus philomelos) and dunnock (Prunella modularis) were most strongly infested. Mean tick infestation per bird was 3.3; in some single cases up to 33 ticks per bird were found. Ticks were examined for several pathogens; nymph samples were processed individually, while all larvae samples from a single bird were combined in pools. Borrelia sp. was detected in 7.9%, and Candidatus N. micurensis bacteria were detected in 3.9% of the ticks. In addition, a low number (
Period29 Mar 2023
Event titleRSU International Research Conference 2023: Knowledge for Use in Practice
Event typeConference
OrganiserRīga Stradiņš University
LocationRiga, LatviaShow on map
Degree of RecognitionInternational

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