Review article
Should we be afraid of ticks?
Radovan Vodopija
orcid.org/0000-0002-5645-8286
; Andrija Stampar Teaching Institute of Public Health, Zagreb, Croatia
Kruno Sokol
orcid.org/0000-0002-6457-5626
; Andrija Stampar Teaching Institute of Public Health, Zagreb, Croatia
Daniela Vojvodić
; Andrija Stampar Teaching Institute of Public Health, Zagreb, Croatia
Iva Pem Novosel
; Croatian Institute of Public Health, Zagreb, Croatia
Željka Gregurić Beljak
orcid.org/0000-0002-7640-0516
; Andrija Stampar Teaching Institute of Public Health, Zagreb, Croatia
Nikolina Baranj
orcid.org/0000-0002-0923-4757
; Andrija Stampar Teaching Institute of Public Health, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Ticks are arthropods from the Phylum Arthropoda, Class Arachnida, Subclass Acaria, order Parasitiformes, divided in two Families: hard ticks (Ixodidae) and soft ticks (Argasidae). Phylogenetic link of the third family (Nuttalliellidae) to other families remains unknown, as, although well described, it has not been sampled for a long time. The family of soft ticks (Argasidae) counts 193 species, and that of hard ticks (Ixodidae) counts 702 species divided in 14 classes. Many tick species have an important role in human and veterinary medicine as vectors of infectious diseases such as: tick-borne encephalitis (TBE), Lyme borreliosis, tularemia, ehrlichiosis, boutonneuse fever, Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, etc.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) monitors the movement and distribution of ticks and their species. Tick species Dermacentor reticulatus, Hyalomma marginatum, Ixodes persulcatus, Ixodes ricinus, Ornithodorus spp. and Rhipicephalus sanguineus are monitored in Europe via VectorNet network.
The distribution of Ixodes ricinus tick is very wide (from Portugal to Russia; from North Africa to Scandinavia); and therefore it can survive in different environmental surroundings. The geographical distribution of Ixodes ricinus tick has changed in many countries in the past years, so it can be found on higher altitudes and geographical latitudes and longitudes. Ixodes ricinus tick is involved in the transmission of TBE and Lyme borreliosis.
According to data from the Croatian Institute of Public Health obtained from the national communicable disease reporting system, there were 5834 (annual average 417) cases of Lyme borreliosis (LB) registered in the Republic of Croatia in the period from 2004 till 2017, with 1774 (annual average 127) of them in the city of Zagreb. In the same period, there were 376 cases (annual average 27) of TBE registered in the Republic of Croatia, with 27 cases (annual average 2) in the city of Zagreb.
Vaccination against TBE and personal protective measures (adequate clothing, repellents) play an important role in the prevention of tickborne diseases.
Keywords
ticks; personal protective measures; vaccination; tick-borne encephalitis (TBE)
Hrčak ID:
223052
URI
Publication date:
18.7.2019.
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