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| − | {{review}}
| + | #REDIRECT[[:Category:Ticks]] |
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| − | {{toplink
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| − | |backcolour =
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| − | |linkpage =Parasites
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| − | |linktext =PARASITES
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| − | |pagetype=Bugs
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| − | |sublink1=Arachnida
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| − | |subtext1=ARACHNIDA
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| − | }}
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| − | <br>
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| − | ==Introduction==
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| − | Ticks are ectoparasites which live by hamatophagy on the blood of mammals, birds and sometimes reptiles and amphibians. Ticks are of considerable veterinary importance, particularly in warmer climates where they can cause substantial economic losses through decreased productivity and disease. They are also also important in human medicine as they cause [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyme_disease Lyme Disease] (boreliosis) and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tick-borne_meningoencephalitis tick-bourne encephalitis/meningoencephalitis].
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| − | Ticks decrease productivity by causing fleece and hide damage, preventing animals from feeding (tick worry), ascending motor paralysis and anaemia. Infestation can also lead to secondary infection from '''blowfly''' and '''screw-worms''' leading to '''strike'''.
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| − | The soft ticks are only of importance in warmer climates, whereas the hard ticks cause significant problems in both warmer and temperate climates.
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| − | ==Morphology==
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| − | ===Hard Ticks===
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| − | *Hard, chitinous covering over dorsal surface called the '''scutum'''
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| − | **Unique to hard ticks
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| − | **Males have a scutum which covers the entire body surface
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| − | **Females have a scutum which only covers a small area behind the head
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| − | *Prominant biting mouthparts
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| − | *Festoons ('pie crust edging') around the posterior body margins
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| − | *Enamel coloured patches on scutum are present on '''ornate ticks'''
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| − | *Female hard ticks may swell up to three times their normal size when taking a blood meal
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| − | ===Soft Ticks===
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| − | *No scutum
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| − | *Mouthparts are not visible from dorsal surface
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| − | *Feed little and often as cannot swell as much as hard ticks
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| − | ==Mouthparts==
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| − | *Sensory organs for locating a feeding site called '''palps'''
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| − | *Chelicerae for puncturing the skin
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| − | *The '''hypostome''' pushes through the wound made by the chelicerae where backwards pointing teeth lock the mouthparts into the skin
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| − | **Dorsal groove in the hypostome permits the flow of tick saliva and host blood
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| − | ==Feeding==
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| − | *Ticks stand upright
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| − | *Chelicerae cut through skin creating a pool of blood
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| − | *Hypostome is inserted deep into the skin
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| − | *Mouthparts are cemented into place
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| − | *Ticks feed continuously
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| − | *Tick saliva flows into host
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| − | **Histamine blocking agents to minismise the host inflammatory response
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| − | **Anticoagulents to ensure the free flow of blood
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| − | **Cytolysins to enlarge the feeding lesion
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| − | **Vasoactive mediators, enterases and carbohydrate splitting enzymes to increase the vascular permeability, facilitating feeding
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| − | **Paralytic toxins
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| − | *Host tissue is broken down leaving a zone of necrosis creating a '''feeding lesion'''
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| − | ==Life Cycle==
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| − | *Ticks are temporary parasites so only spend a short period of their lives on the host species
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| − | *When larvae are seeking a host they are known as '''seed ticks'''
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| − | *Both hard and soft ticks have the same life cycle
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| − | **Egg - larva - nymph - adult
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| − | *Soft ticks feed little and often and on '''many hosts'''
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| − | '''Hard Ticks'''
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| − | *Classified depending on the number of hosts species they parasitise during their life cycle
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| − | *Take one blood meal at each life cycle stage which lasts several days
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| − | *'''One-host ticks'''
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| − | **Each stage feeds and develops on one host (the same host)
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| − | **E.g. ''Boophillus spp.''
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| − | *'''Two-host ticks'''
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| − | **Larvae and nymphs feed on one host
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| − | **Adults feed on a second host
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| − | **E.g. ''Hyalomma''
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| − | *'''Three-host ticks'''
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| − | **Each stage feeds and develops on a different host
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| − | **E.g. ''Ixodes spp.''
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| − | ==Disease Transmission==
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| − | *'''Trans-ovarian transmission'''
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| − | **Infection is passed from one generation of ticks to the next through the '''egg'''
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| − | **E.g. ''Babesia''
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| − | *'''Trans-stadial transmission'''
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| − | **Parasite or microbial organism is ingested during feeding
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| − | **Organism passed onto the next host as the tick develops (only in two and three host ticks)
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| − | **It is '''not''' passed onto the next generation through the egg
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| − | ==Ticks of Veterinary Importance==
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| − | ===Important Hard Ticks===
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| − | *''Haemaphysalis'' sp.
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| − | **Cattle
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| − | **Transmits ''Babesia major'' a relatively non-pathogenic protozoan parasite
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| − | **Uncommon
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| − | *''Dermacentor'' sp.
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| − | **Sheep
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| − | **Rare
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| − | *''Rhipicephalus'' spp.
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| − | **Warmer climates
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| − | **Causes paralysis in livestock
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| − | **Vectors for:
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| − | ***''Theileria parva'' which causes East Coast Fever
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| − | ***''Babesia bigemina'' which affects ruminants, mainly in Africa
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| − | ***''Babesia canis'' and ''Ehrlichia canis'' which affects dogs in warmer climates worldwide
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| − | *''Boophilus'' spp.
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| − | **Warmer climates
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| − | **Vectors for ''Babesia'' spp.
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| − | **Vectors for the bacteria ''Anaplasma'' which affects cattle
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| − | *''Amblyomma'' spp.
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| − | **Warmer climates
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| − | **Transmits ''Cowdria ruminatium'' (heartwater) in Arfica
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| − | **Transmits 'Q-fever' and 'Rocky Mountain Spotted fever' in southern USA
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| − | *''Hyalomma'' spp.
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| − | **Warmer climates
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| − | **Old World
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| − | **Parasites a wide range of both domestic and wild animals
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| − | **Involved in the spread of ''Theileria'' and ''Babesia'' spp.
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| − | **E.g. ''H. aegyptium'' is a parasite of tortoises in North Africa which has been spread around the world by the pet trade
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| − | ====''Ixodes'' spp.====
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| − | *''Ixodes ricinus''
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| − | **3 host tick
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| − | **Life cycle takes an average of 3 years to complete (range of 2-7 years)
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| − | **Only feed for a few days each year at each life cycle stage
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| − | **Most of their time is spent on the ground
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| − | **Adult female lays several thousand eggs on the ground in matted vegetation
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| − | ***E.g. Rough pasture, hedgerows etc.
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| − | *''Ixodes canisuga''
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| − | **Host specific dog tick
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| − | **Problem in kennels
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| − | *''Ixodes hexagonus''
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| − | **Hedgehogs, dogs, cats, ferrets and wealels
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| − | **Common in small animal practice
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| − | ===Important Soft Ticks===
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| − | *''Argas'' spp.
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| − | **Warmer climates worldwide
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| − | **Mainly an avian parasite but will also attack humans
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| − | **E.g. ''A. persicus'' the poultry tick which contributes to production losses in the poultry industry and also feeds on migratory birds in temperate climates
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| − | *''Ornithodoros'' spp.
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| − | **Warmer climates worldwide
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| − | **Found in primitive housing and sandy soil
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| − | **Vectors for relapsing fever caused by ''Borrelia'' sp.
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| − | **Vectors for African swine fever
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| − | *''Otobius'' spp.
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| − | **Warmer climates worldwide
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| − | **Inhabits the ears of cats and dogs
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| − | **Also referred to as the 'spinose ear tick'
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| − | **Can predispose animals to secondary myiasis
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| − | ==Control==
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| − | *In warmer climates where rainfall is present all year round and there is a constant high relative humidity, tick activity may be constant throughout the year
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| − | *If there is a limited vegetation mat, then tick activity will be influenced by seasonal rainfall and the vegetation transpiration
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| − | *In temperate climates there is usually two distinct periods of tick activity coinciding with warmer temperatures
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| − | **E.g. Spring and Autumn
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| − | *Some temperate climates only have one distinct period of tick activity in the spring
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| − | '''Control Methods'''
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| − | 1. Killing ticks on the ground
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| − | *Altering microclimate
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| − | **E.g. Pasture improvement
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| − | *Starving (spelling) pasture
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| − | **Only useful if ticks do not feed on other hosts
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| − | *Burning pasture to kill off ticks on the ground
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| − | 2. Separate the host from the infection
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| − | *Stock management
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| − | **removing stock from infected pasture when ticks are most active
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| − | *Fencing off infected areas
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| − | 3. Killing ticks on the host
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| − | *Ascaricides
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| − | *E.g. Dippind, spraying, pour-on solutions
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| − | *For more information on ascaricides see [[Ectoparasiticides|here]]
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| − | 4. Enhancing host resistance
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| − | *Stock hybridisation
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| − | **E.g. Bredding the higher resistant ''Bos indicus'' with the less resistant ''Bos Taurus''
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| − | *Vaccination against the hidden antigens in the tick's gut
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| − | ==Links==
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| − | *[[Parasitic skin infections - Pathology#Ticks|Skin infections pathology]]
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