Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology, Munich, Germany Fraunhofer Institute of Immunology, Infection and Pandemic Research, Penzberg, Germany
Michael Bröker
Global Health Press, Singapore/Marburg, Germany
Silke Wölfel
amedes MVZ for Laboratory Medicine and Microbiology, Fuerstenfeldbruck, Germany
Gerhard Dobler
Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology, Munich, Germany Department of Parasitology, Institute of Biology, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany Dept. of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Munich, Germany
Sabine Schaper
Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology, Munich, Germany
Katharina Müller
Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology, Munich, Germany
Epidemiology, Parasites and Vectors, Agricultural Research Council-Onderstepoort Veterinary Research, Onderstepoort, South Africa Department of Life and Consumer Sciences, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein 9301, South Africa
Heiner von Buttlar
Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology, Munich, Germany
Ixodid ticks are obligate blood-feeding arthropods and important vectors of pathogens. In Mallorca, almost no data on the tick fauna are available. Herein, we investigated ticks and tick-borne pathogens in ticks collected from dogs, a cat and humans in Mallorca as result of a citizen science project. A total of 91 ticks were received from German tourists and residents in Mallorca. Ticks were collected from March to October 2023 from dogs, cat and humans, morphologically and genetically identified and tested for pathogens by PCRs. Six tick species could be identified: Ixodes ricinus (n = 2), Ixodes ventalloi (n = 1), Hyalomma lusitanicum (n = 7), Hyalomma marginatum (n = 1), Rhipicephalus sanguineus s.l. (n = 71) and Rhipicephalus pusillus (n = 9). Rhipicephalus sanguineus s.l. adults were collected from dogs and four females from a cat and the 16S rDNA sequences identified it as Rh. sanguineus s.s. Hyalomma lusitanicum was collected from 1 human, 1 dog and 5 specimens were collected from the ground in the community of Santanyi, together with one H. marginatum male. This is the first report of Hyalomma marginatum in Mallorca. Both I. ricinus were collected from humans and I. ventalloi female was collected from a dog. All ticks tested negative for Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Coxiella spp., Francisella spp., and piroplasms. In 32/71 (45%) specimens of Rh. sanguineus s.s., Rickettsia spp. could be detected and in 18/32 (56.2%) sequenced tick DNAs R. massiliae was identified. Ixodes ventalloi female and both I. ricinus tested positive in the screening PCR, but the sequencing for the identification of the Rickettsia sp. failed.
