Ticks and Tick-borne diseases surveillance with special reference to Anaplasma infections in small ruminants on the island of Lesvos, Greece

Abstract

On the island of Lesvos in Greece, 39 sheep farms were visited and ticks (n=1195) were collected between May and July 2015. Furthermore, blood samples were collected from 195 sheep. During the farm visits questionnaires were filled in with questions about farm management, common diseases on the farm and in particular tick-borne diseases. The following ticks were identified: Hyalomma excavatum (0,43%), Hyalomma detritum (0,17%), Hyalomma detritum scupense (0,09%), Hyalomma marginatum (1,73%), Hyalomma rufipes (0,09%), Rhipicephalus bursa (4,92%), Rhipicephalus sanguineus (2,67%) and Rhipicephalus turanicus (89,9%). R. turanicus was the predominant ticks species and is a known vector of a number of tick-borne diseases. As a next step, PCR amplification and Reverse Line Blot Hybridization (RLB) will be performed on the extracted DNA obtained from ticks and blood samples. Once it is determined which tick-borne diseases exist on the island of Lesvos, a suitable strategy for control and prevention can be developed.