Survey of ixodid ticks, vectors of Rickettsia parkeri, Buenos Aires province, Argentina

Abstract

In America, rickettsiae have aroused greater interest in public health. Categorized as emerging zoonotic diseases called "Spotted Fever" (FM), this group of diseases are transmitted to humans essentially by hematophagous arthropods such as Ixodidae ticks. This problem exists in Argentina, where the main vector of the Rickettsia parkeri bacterium (within FM), in areas of the Plata Hydrographic Basin, is the hard tick of the Amblyomma triste species. The aim of this study is to survey the species of ticks, mainly of the genus Amblyomma spp., both in urban (UA) and natural (NA) areas, in municipalities that are part of the Plata River basin and its sub-basins, in order to make new contributions to its epidemiology and surveillance, during the period from September 2021 to March 2022. A descriptive, quantitative, observational and cross-sectional study was carried out to survey the different species of ticks in NA and UA, in the Plata River Hydrographic Basin.