Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases in Central America and the Caribbean: A One Health Perspective
Roxanne A. Charles,
Sergio Bermúdez,
Pavle Banović,
Dasiel Obregón Alvarez,
Adrian Alberto Díaz-Sánchez,
Belkis Corona-González,
Eric Marcel Charles Etter,
Islay Rodríguez González,
Abdul Ghafar,
Abdul Jabbar,
Sara Moutailler,
Alejandro Cabezas-Cruz
Affiliations
Roxanne A. Charles
Department of Basic Veterinary Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago
Sergio Bermúdez
Department of Medical Entomology, Gorgas Memorial Institute for Health Research, Panama 0816-02593, Panama
Pavle Banović
Ambulance for Lyme Borreliosis and Other Tick-Borne Diseases, Pasteur Institute Novi Sad, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
Dasiel Obregón Alvarez
School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada
Adrian Alberto Díaz-Sánchez
Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, 112 Science Place, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5E2, Canada
Belkis Corona-González
Department of Animal Health, National Center for Animal and Plant Health, Carretera de Tapaste y Autopista Nacional, Apartado Postal 10, San José de las Lajas, Mayabeque 32700, Cuba
Eric Marcel Charles Etter
CIRAD, UMR ASTRE, Petit-Bourg, 97170 Guadeloupe, France
Islay Rodríguez González
Department of Mycology-Bacteriology, Institute of Tropical Medicine Pedro Kourí, Marianao 13, Havana 10400, Cuba
Abdul Ghafar
Department of Veterinary Biosciences, Melbourne Veterinary School, the University of Melbourne, Werribee, VIC 3030, Australia
Abdul Jabbar
Department of Veterinary Biosciences, Melbourne Veterinary School, the University of Melbourne, Werribee, VIC 3030, Australia
Sara Moutailler
Anses, INRAE, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d’Alfort, UMR BIPAR, Laboratoire de Santé Animale, 94700 Maisons-Alfort, France
Alejandro Cabezas-Cruz
Anses, INRAE, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d’Alfort, UMR BIPAR, Laboratoire de Santé Animale, 94700 Maisons-Alfort, France
Ticks have complex life cycles which involve blood-feeding stages found on wild and domestic animals, with humans as accidental hosts. At each blood-feeding stage, ticks can transmit and/or acquire pathogens from their hosts. Therefore, the circulation of tick-borne pathogens (TBPs), especially the zoonotic ones, should be studied in a multi-layered manner, including all components of the chain of infections, following the ‘One Health’ tenets. The implementation of such an approach requires coordination among major stakeholders (such as veterinarians, physicians, acarologists, and researchers) for the identification of exposure and infection risks and application of effective prevention measures. In this review, we summarize our current knowledge on the epidemiology of tick-borne diseases in Central America and the Caribbean and the challenges associated with the implementation of ‘One Health’ surveillance and control programs in the region.
