Ticks feeding on ruminants and humans in Greece

Abstract

Ticks are important vectors of disease and transmit an extensive range of viral, bacterial and protozoan pathogens to livestock in a wide variety of habitats. In recent years, diseases such as babesiosis, ehrlichiosis and anaplasmosis have all shown evidence of increased prevalence and distribution in various parts of Europe. However data concerning the prevalence of ticks and tick borne diseases present in livestock and humans in Greece are limited. In order to fill this gap we performed the current study to define the existence and prevalence of different tick species found in farm animals and humans. As regards livestock, we focused on ruminants (mainly sheep and goats and, in a lesser extent, cattle) since they are the only ones spend time on pastures. A sufficient number of farms all over the country were visited during 2 tick seasons (from March to October), taking different habitats and animal density around Greece into account. Ticks collected from humans originated from infected individuals who visited hospitals. In total, 2676 ticks were collected from 26 different prefectures (mainland and islands) all over Greece.