Assessment of an In Vitro Tick Feeding System for the Successful Feeding of Adult <i>Rhipicephalus appendiculatus</i> Ticks
Btissam Asri,
Djamel Tahir,
Alec Evans,
Leon Nicolaas Meyer,
Abdelkbir Rhalem,
Mohammed Bouslikhane,
Massaro Ueti,
Maxime Madder
Affiliations
Btissam Asri
Département de Parasitologie et de Sante Publique Vétérinaire, Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II, Madinat Al Irfane, B.P 6206, Rabat 10101, Morocco
Djamel Tahir
Environnement et Risques Infectieux, Institut Pasteur, 25-28 Rue du Roux, 75015 Paris, France
Département de Parasitologie et de Sante Publique Vétérinaire, Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II, Madinat Al Irfane, B.P 6206, Rabat 10101, Morocco
Mohammed Bouslikhane
Département de Parasitologie et de Sante Publique Vétérinaire, Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II, Madinat Al Irfane, B.P 6206, Rabat 10101, Morocco
Massaro Ueti
Animal Diseases Research Unit, Agricultural Research Service, US Department of Agriculture, Pullman, WA 99164, USA
This study assessed the efficiency of a new in vitro tick feeding system for the adult Rhipicephalus appendiculatus tick and compared the impact of different blood anticoagulating factors on their feeding process. A total of 10 feeders were each seeded with 30 or 60 R. appendiculatus adults. Bovine blood was added into each unit and changed every 12 h for 4 to 10 days during which tick attachment and engorgement was assessed. The tick attachment observed 4 days after feeding was 80.0% (48/60), 75.8% (182/240), and 70.8% (170/240) for lithium heparin, citrate phosphate dextrose, and defibrinated blood, respectively, with no significant difference (p > 0.05) between the anticoagulants used. However, the ticks fed on heparinized and defibrinated blood reached repletion status. The in vitro tick feeding system was successfully used to feed adult R. appendiculatus ticks until repletion. This system could be used to facilitate studies on tick-pathogen interactions, such as those involved in the East Coast fever disease.
