Recently, in the province of Trapani (Western Sicily), some overwintering specimens of the argasid tick Argas (Persicargas) persicus (Oken, 1818) were observed and collected. Morphological and genetic analysis were utilized in order to reach a definitive identification.
Climate and vegetation in Spain vary from north to south, affecting tick distribution and consequently the presence of tick-borne diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate throughout a 2-yr study the distribution of the different exophilic questing tick species present in 18 areas: eight located in central and 10 in northern Spain.
Phlebotomus papatasi (Scopoli) (Diptera: Psychodidae) is the main vector of Leishmania major Yakimoff & Schokhor (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae), the causative agent of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis in the Old World.
Four types of commercial mosquito control traps, the Mosquito Magnet Pro (MMP), the Sentinel 360 (S360), the BG-Sentinel (BGS), and the Mega-Catch Ultra (MCU), were compared with a standard Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) light trap for efficacy in collecting phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) in a small farming village in the Nile River Valley 10 km north of Aswan, Egypt.
Main topics of the meeting will be : Collecting sand flies – Repositories for sand flies and sand fly colonies – Taxonomy and genetics – Ecology – Physiology and immunology – Sand fly Saliva and immune response to sand fly bites – Leishmania-sand fly interaction – Other pathogens in sand flies – Sand fly control as a part of integrated leishmaniasis control programs
The European network for arthropod vector surveillance for human public health (VBORNET), funded by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, holds its second annual general meeting at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium, on 18-20 April 2011
In July–November 2009, 26 European Union Member States, Norway and Iceland, participated in a survey seeking information on national tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) vaccination recommendations.
European and Asian viruses within the tick-borne encephalitis Flavivirus complex are known to show temporal, spatial and phylogenetic relationships that imply a clinal pattern of evolution.