Volume 26, Number 12—December 2020
Dispatch
Zoonotic Pathogens in Ticks from Migratory Birds, Italy
Elena Battisti, Katharina Urach, Adnan Hodžić, Leonida Fusani, Peter Hufnagl, Gerit Felsberger, Ezio Ferroglio, and Georg Gerhard Duscher
Table
Sampled bird species, ticks, and Rickettsia PCR positivity, Italy, 2016–2017*
| Year, bird species | No. birds | Tick species found | No. pathogen-positive ticks/no. tested ticks | Rickettsia |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R. aeschlimanni | R. africae | R. raoultii | ||||
| 2016 | ||||||
| Barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) | 18 | NA | NA | |||
| Blackbird (Turdus merula) | 1 | Ixodes ventalloi | 0/1 | |||
| Black redstart (Phoenicuros ochruros) | 29 | I. ventalloi | 0/2 | |||
| Hyalomma sp. | 1/3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Eurasian blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) | 1 | NA | NA | |||
| European robin (Erithacus rubecula) | 22 | I. frontalis | 0/1 | |||
| Garden warbler (Sylvia borin) | 83 | NA | NA | |||
| Icterine warbler (Hippolais icterina) | 19 | Hyalomma sp. | 1/2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Northern weathear (Oenanthe oenanthe) | 1 | Hyalomma sp. | 1/1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) | 21 | Hyalomma sp. | 1/5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Redstart (Phoenicuros phoenicuro) | 14 | Hyalomma sp. | 7/9 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Spotted flycatcher (Muscicapa striata) | 25 | NA | NA | |||
| Subalpine warbler (Sylvia cantillas) | 1 | I. frontalis | 0/1 | |||
| Tree pipit (Anthus trivialis) | 1 | Hyalomma sp. | 1/2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Whinchat (Saxicola rubetra) | 38 | I. frontalis | 0/1 | |||
| Hyalomma sp. | 4/13 | 4 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Whitethroat (Sylvia communis) | 92 | Ixodes sp. | 0/1 | |||
| Hyalomma sp. | 10/24 | 9 | 0 | 1 | ||
| Willow warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus) | 1 | NA | NA | |||
| Wood warbler (Phylloscopus sibilatrix) |
1 |
Hyalomma sp. |
0/3 |
|||
| 2017 | ||||||
| Barn swallow (H.o rustica) | 20 | Hyalomma sp. | 0/1 | |||
| Black redstart (P. ochruros) | 3 | H. rufipes | 1/1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Collared flycatcher (Ficedula albicollis) | 1 | H. rufipes | 1/1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Dunnock (Prunella modularis) | 1 | Hyalomma sp. | 0/1 | |||
| Eurasian blackcap (S. atricapilla) | 48 | NA | NA | |||
| European robin (E. rubecula) | 39 | H.rufipes | 2/10 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Garden warbler (S. borin) | 30 | NA | NA | |||
| Icterine warbler (H. icterina) | 41 | NA | NA | |||
| Northern weathear (O. oenanthe) | 1 | H. rufipes | 1/1 | 1 | ||
| Pied flycatcher (F. hypoleuca) | 30 | Hyalomma sp. | 0/1 | |||
| Redstart (P. phoenicuros) | 25 | H. rufipes | 8/12 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| Song thrush (Turdus philomenos) | 4 | H. rufipes | 1/1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Hyalomma sp. | 0/3 | |||||
| Spotted flycatcher (M. striata) | 24 | H. rufipes | 1/2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Subalpine warbler (S. cantillas) | 1 | Hyalomma sp. | 0/1 | |||
| Tree pipit (A. trivialis) | 2 | Amblyomma marmoreum | 1/1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Hyalomma sp. | 0/1 | |||||
| Whinchat (S. rubetra) | 43 | H. rufipes | 5/7 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Whitethroat (S. communis) | 57 | H. rufipes | 2/5 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Willow warbler (P. trochilus) | 1 | Hyalomma sp. | 0/1 | |||
| Wood warbler (P. sibilatrix) | 5 | H. rufipes | 1/1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Hyalomma sp. | 0/4 | |||||
*NA, no ticks collected.
Page created: July 29, 2020
Page updated: November 19, 2020
Page reviewed: November 19, 2020
The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.