Identification of Medically important Ticks

IDENTIFICATION OF SOFT TICKS COLLECTED FROM MITHI-

THARPARKAR-PAKISTAN

X-10 (dorsal view) x-10 (ventral view)

Date of Visit:
Place: Mithi, Tharparkar, Pakistan
Housing type: Mud-Hay houses
Time of collection: Mid-day
Total ticks collected: 05
Genus identified: Ornithodoros (See
visual above)

Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Arachnida
Order Acarina
Family: Argasidae
Genus: Ornithodoros
Description: Ornithodoros a genus of soft ticks (family Argasidae), several species of which are
vectors of pathogens of various relapsing fevers. They are characterized by a capitulum hidden
below the hood and by disks and mamillae of the integument that are continuous from dorsal to
ventral surfaces in a variety of patterns.

Biology: Soft ticks like Ornithodoros usually feed on one type of animal during their lifetime. They tend to stay near
the habitations of the host animal. Sheltered burrows, dens, nests and resting places of the host are favored locations
with intermittent feeding upon host return. Humans are usually bitten by entering a cave, crawling under a building
or sleeping in primitive cabins, all areas where host rodents nests are located. Ornithodoros ticks can live up to
fifteen to twenty years and can survive without blood meals for several years. The risk of relapsing fever after a bite
from an infected Ornithodoros ticks is 50% or higher.

We report Ornithodoros (family Argasidae), from Tharparker Desert, where they bite human
beings casing them serious skin conditions. These ticks are characterized by a capitulum hidden
below the hood and by disks and mamillae of the integument that are continuous from dorsal to
ventral surfaces in a variety of patterns. Ornithodoros usually feed on one type of animal during
their lifetime. They tend to stay near the habitations of the host animal. Sheltered burrows, dens,
nests and resting places of the host are favored locations with intermittent feeding upon host
return. Humans are usually bitten by entering a cave, crawling under a building or sleeping in
primitive cabins, all areas where host rodents nests are located. Ornithodoros ticks can live up to
fifteen to twenty years and can survive without blood meals for several years. The risk of
relapsing fever after a bite from an infected Ornithodoros ticks is 50% or higher. Microbial
organisms these ticks are likely to transmit are a parameter yet to be studied.