Papel de las aves en la dispersión de garrapatas y microorganismos que vehiculan
Ticks are vectors of zoonotic diseases of relevant concern for Public Health. Birds are host of these arthropods and they can transport them during their movements, migratory or not. Data about microorganisms harboured by ticks from birds in Spain are scarce. This fact highlighted the necessity of investigating the role of these vertebrates in the epidemiology of arthropod-borne diseases. Thereby, several studies, that have been published in seven scientific articles and one communication in an international congress, were carried out and they are showed in this manuscript. Tick specimens collected from birds in the Iberian Peninsula, and occasionally in Morocco, were studied to assess the presence of bacteria (Anaplasma/Ehrlichia, Borrelia, Rickettsia and Spiroplasma) and viruses (Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus, Flavivirus, Phlebovirus, Coltivirus and Orbivirus) using molecular biology techniques. In these studies, ticks belonging to five species (Haemaphysalis punctata, Hyalomma marginatum, Ixodes arboricola, Ixodes frontalis and Ixodes ricinus) and captured over birds, mainly passerine and many of them migratory species, were analized. Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Anaplasma centrale, Borrelia garinii, Borrelia turdi, Borrelia valaisiana, Rickettsia aeschlimannii, Rickettsia hevetica, Rickettsia monacensis, Rickettsia sibirica subsp. mongolitimonae and Rickettsia sibirica subsp. sibirica were detected. These works have allowed to describe microorganisms for the first time in Southwest Europe, in ticks from birds or/and in tick species not previously associated with these bacteria. Moreover, a new Rickettsia species, Candidatus Rickettsia vini, has been identified with a high prevalence in I. arboricola. Lastly, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus has been amplified in Hy. marginatum specimens captured in Morocco from birds in migration. This finding supported the hypothesis of the virus arrival to the Iberian Peninsula from Africa through the infected ticks from birds. In addition, it demonstrated the presence of the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus in Northwest Africa. These studies demonstrate the important role of birds as tick dispersals and the infectious agents that they carry.
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