Dermacentor reticulatus: a vector on the rise

Dermacentor reticulatus is a hard tick species with extraordinary biological features. It has a high reproduction rate, a rapid developmental cycle, and is also able to overcome years of unfavourable conditions. Dermacentor reticulatus can survive under water for several months and is cold-hardy even compared to other tick species. It has a wide host range: over 60 different wild and domesticated hosts are known for the three active developmental stages. Its high adaptiveness gives an edge to this tick species as shown by new data on the emergence and establishment of D. reticulatus populations throughout Europe. The tick has been the research focus of a growing number of scientists, physicians and veterinarians. Within the Web of Science database, more than a fifth of the over 700 items published on this species between 1897 and 2015 appeared in the last three years (2013–2015). Here we attempt to synthesize current knowledge on the systematics, ecology, geographical distribution and recent spread of the species and to highlight the great spectrum of possible veterinary and public health threats it poses. Canine babesiosis caused by Babesia canis is a severe leading canine vector-borne disease in many endemic areas. Although less frequently than Ixodes ricinus, D. reticulatus adults bite humans and transmit several Rickettsia spp., Omsk haemorrhagic fever virus or Tick-borne encephalitis virus. We have not solely collected and reviewed the latest and fundamental scientific papers available in primary databases but also widened our scope to books, theses, conference papers and specialists colleagues’ experience where needed. Besides the dominant literature available in English, we also tried to access scientific literature in German, Russian and eastern European languages as well. We hope to inspire future research projects that are necessary to understand the basic life-cycle and ecology of this vector in order to understand and prevent disease threats. We conclude that although great strides have been made in our knowledge of the eco-epidemiology of this species, several gaps still need to be filled with basic research, targeting possible reservoir and vector roles and the key factors resulting in the observed geographical spread of D. reticulatus. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13071-016-1599-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Prevalence and Detection of Flaviviruses Occurring in Slovakia

The tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) and West Nile virus (WNV) are arboviruses of the genus Flavivirus in the family Flaviviridae. Their hosts are vertebratesof which rodents are the reservoirs of TBEV and birds are the reservoirs of WNV. Both viruses are transmitted from reservoirs to mammals by vectors. TBEV is transmitted by ticks (mostly Ixodes spp.) and WNV by mosquitoes (mostly Culex spp.). Both viruses are capable of infecting mammals, including man. TBEV and WNV are neurotropic, however infection is, in most cases, subclinical or accompanied by only moderate general signs. However, in some cases they can cause serious disturbances of the CNS. Our study focused on the detection of the genomes of TBEV and WNV in vectors by means of the reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The flavivirus genome was detected by means of oligonucleotides delineating the sequence in NS5 gene that encodes viral RNA-dependent RNA-polymerase. For the detection of TBEV, we used the oligonucleotide pair detecting the structural envelope protein. The positive samples were subjected to the sequence and phylogenetic analysis. The WNV was not detected in any of the pooled samples prepared from 616 mosquitoes captured in the vicinity of the village Drienovec, district Košice-surroundings. The investigation of 676 ticks demonstrated the presence of one strain of TBEV. One blood-fed I. ricinus female was obtained from a goat grazing in a pasture in the Dúbrava area close to Prešov. The genetic analysis revealed the presence of a strain close to the endemic strainsof TBEV Hypr and Neudörfl. The results of our study can become a motivation for additional studies in model locations oriented on ecology and circulation of these important zoonotic flaviviruses