The use of domestic chickens as laboratory hosts of the larvae of the bont tick, Amblyomma hebraeum

A comparison of attachment, engorgement and moulting success of Amblyomma hebraeum larvae fed on domestic chickens and Himalayan giant white rabbits indicates that chickens are better hosts than the rabbits. Moreover the time needed for detachment of all engorged larvae is significantly less for chickens than for the rabbits. No evidence of induced immunity was found in chickens on re-infestation with larvae of A. hebraeum.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat XI Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.lmchunu2014mn201

The host status of the striped mouse, Rhabdomys pumilio, in relation to the tick vectors of heartwater in South Africa

Striped mice, Rhabdomys pumilio, were trapped over a 17 month period in the Thomas Baines Nature Reserve in the eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Captured mice were placed in cages, over water, and naturally detaching ticks were collected. Only 5 larvae and 1 nymph of Amblyomma hebraeum were recovered from the mice. These represented less than 0,1 % of the total number of ticks recovered. No Amblyomma marmoreum were recovered. As the vegetation and large mammals and tortoises in the Thomas Baines Nature Reserve abound in larvae of both these vectors of heartwater the low infestation rates of R. pumilio indicate that it is either unsuitable or inaccessible for these ticks. R. pumilio is therefore unlikely to play a role in the epidemiology of heartwater.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat XI Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.lmchunu2014mn201

On sampling tick populations : the problem of overdispersion

Data collected on both free-living and parasitic tick populations are likely to be overdispersed. The use of means from few replicate samples of overdispersed data as quantitative estimators of tick population density is in turn likely to lead to inaccurate interpretations which may be scientifically misleading. In this paper ways of estimating overdispersion are listed and suggestions for the use of correct statistical tests for handling overdispersed data are given.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat XI Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.mn201

The developmental success of Amblyomma hebraeum and Amblyomma marmoreum on the leopard tortoise, Geochelone pardalis.

The success of natural infestations of various life history stages of Amblyomma hebraeum and Amblyomma marmoreum on the leopard tortoise, Geochelone pardalis, was compared. Success was measured by the time taken for ticks to detach, as well as the percentage of ticks engorging and subsequently either moulting to the next life history stage or laying viable eggs. Larvae of A. hebraeum were the only developmental stage not recovered. Nymphae and female A. hebraeum were less successful in moulting or laying eggs than the corresponding stages of A. marmoreum. Nevertheless, 48,7 % of A. hebraeum nymphae moulted, while 1 of 6 females laid viable eggs.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat XI Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.lmchunu2014mn201

Striped mice, Rhabdomys pumilio, and other murid rodents as hosts for immature ixodid ticks in the Eastern Cape Province

Striped mice, Rhabdomys pumilio, were trapped over a period of 17 months in the Thomas Baines Nature Reserve, and placed in cages, over water, until all the ticks they harboured had detached. The mice were then returned to the reserve. Four ixodid tick species were recovered from the mice of which the larvae and nymphs of Rhipicephalus follis and Rhipicephalus simus were the most numerous. Most larvae of R. follis detached from mice trapped from March to July, and most nymphs in March and from June to September. Most larvae of R. simus detached from mice trapped from December to March, and most nymphs from January to March and during May and June. Seven ixodid tick species were collected from striped mice, house rats, Rattus rattus, vlei rats, Otomys spp. and Praomys sp. captured in the vicinity of human dwellings or animal holding facilities in the Grahamstown district. The striped mice captured in the Thomas Baines Reserve harboured considerably larger numbers of ticks than any of the rodent species in the more urbanized locali

Changes to the life cycle of liver flukes: Dams, roads, and ponds

10.1016/S1473-3099(12)70174-3The Lancet Infectious Diseases128588-LIDA

Fighting liverflukes with food safety education

Science3316015282-283SCIE

Dams and Disease Triggers on the Lower Mekong River

10.1371/journal.pntd.0002166PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases76e216

Molecular identification of trematode parasites infecting the freshwater snail Bithynia siamensis goniomphalos in Thailand

Digenetic trematodes are important parasites of humans and animals. They have complex life cycles and typically infect a gastropod as the first intermediate host. Bithynia siamensis goniomphalos, the first intermediate host of the liver fluke, Opisthorchis viverrini, harbours a wide variety of other trematode species. Morphological details of cercariae of 20 trematode taxa from B. s. goniomphalos, collected mainly in Thailand from 2009 to 2014, were provided in an earlier paper. Correct identification to the species or genus level based on morphology of these cercariae is generally not possible. Therefore, we used molecular data to improve identification and to investigate the diversity of the species of trematodes infecting B. s. goniomphalos. We were successful in extracting, amplifying and sequencing portions of the 28S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene for 19 of these 20 types of cercaria, and the internal transcribed spacer 2 region for 18 types. BLAST searches in GenBank and phylogenetic trees inferred from the 28S rRNA sequences identified members of at least nine superfamilies and 12 families. Only a few cercariae could be assigned confidently to genus or species on the basis of the sequence data. Matching sequence data from named adult trematodes will be required for definitive identification. There is clearly a great diversity of trematode species utilizing B. s. goniomphalos in Thailand