Borrelia

Ticks and tick-borne diseases have been thought global important issues, because it's affect to animal and human health and are the cause of significant economic losses. The genus Ornithodoros spp., which is included in Family Argasidae, is usually associated with wild animals including seabirds and it was difficult to investigate because seabirds'™ nests are found in inaccessible uninhabited islands. However, Ornithodoros spp. has been known for the vector of many diseases including African swine fever.

Objective: The aim of this study is to survey data of ticks distribution of Korean islands and to investigate pathogens in Argasid ticks.

Rickettsiae are an important arthropod-borne pathogens widely distributed throughout the world that infects humans causing various types of clinical diseases. The clinical features of rickettsial diseases can often overlap with other tick-borne diseases, particularly with borrelioses. These organisms can share the same transmitting vector; co-infection in a single vector is possible, leading to further complication of the diagnosis and treatment of these diseases. Preliminary study showed a relatively high infection rate for spotted fever group Rickettsiae among ticks in Georgia. The prevalence of Borrelia in ticks has not been studied so far.

Objective

The primary goal of this study was to assess the prevalence of Rickettsia and Borellia in ticks collected from different regions of Georgia.