Ticks and tick-borne diseases are important issues worldwide because of their effects on animal and human health. The genus Ornithodoros, which is included in the family Argasidae, is typically associated with wild animals, including seabirds. In this study, samples from the nests of seabirds and surrounding soil were collected to investigate Ornithodoros spp. from 9 uninhabited islands in the western, eastern, and southern parts of Korea from April 2017 to October 2018. The islands are known as the breeding places of migratory and resident birds. Ticks were collected from soil and nest material of seabirds using a Tullgren funnel and identified using 16S rRNA and the cytochrome c oxidase 1 gene (COI), and host animals of soft ticks were identified using the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b gene by a polymerase chain reaction. In the sequence identity of the 16S rRNA gene fragment of Ornithodoros sp., Ornithodoros sawaii was identified as the closest homologous sequence, and the new Ornithodoros sp. was newly identified. We found that the newly identified Ornithodoros sp. in the Republic of Korea was located in uninhabited islands used as breeding places by the black-tailed gull, Larus crassirostris.
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8 September 2020
First Report of Newly Identified Ornithodoros Species in the Republic of Korea
Sun-Woo Han,
Jeong-Byoung Chae,
Young-Sun Jo,
Yoon-Kyoung Cho,
Jun-Gu Kang,
Nam-Shik Shin,
Hee-Jeong Youn,
Hwa-Young Youn,
Hyang-Mi Nam,
Hyun-Joo Kim,
Hae-Eun Kang,
Joon-Seok Chae
Journal of Parasitology
Vol. 106 • No. 5
September 2020
Vol. 106 • No. 5
September 2020
Family Argasidae
Larus crassirostris
New Ornithodoros sp
Ornithodoros spp