Harry Hoogstraal

The Rift Valley fever epizootic in Egypt 1977–1978 2. Ecological and entomological studies

Epidemiological factors related to the introduction, spread and maintenance of Rift Valley fever (RVF) virus were studied during the 1977-78 epizootic in Egypt, Culex pipiens is the most ubiquitous and prevalent mosquito species in the Nile Valley and Delta. Isolation of RVF virus from unengorged C. pipiens, and demonstration of laboratory transmission of the virus by this species, strongly implicate it as the chief vector in Egypt. Virus transmission to man also occurs by contamination when handling infected meat and by inhaling natural virus aerosols. Wild rodents apparently do not serve as RVF virus reservoirs. Domestic sheep, cattle, buffaloes, camels, goats, donkeys and dogs act as amplifying hosts. Over 30% of the camels sampled at the southern border of Egypt were serologically positive for antibodies to RVF virus and it appears likely that the virus was introduced into Egypt, either by these animals or by other vehicles from the south.

A sero-epidemiological survey for certain arboviruses (Togaviridae) in Pakistan

Complement-fixation test reactions to eight viruses of the family Togaviridae were studied in 372 serum samples (157 rodents, 172 domestic animals, 43 humans) from Pakistan. Antibodies to each tested virus were detected. The highest over-all prevalence rates were for West Nile (WN) (7.8%), Japanese encephalitis (JE) (3.2%) and Zika (ZIKA) (2.4%) viruses, followed by Sindbis (SIN), Chikungunya (CHIK), Uganda S (UGS) and Royal Farm (RF) viruses (1.6 to 1.3%). One human serum (male, age 58 years) reacted with Dengue-1 (DEN) virus antigen (titre 1:32). Antibodies to each virus except RF were detected in human sera; antibodies to RF virus were detected only in rodent and domestic animal sera. The roles of rodents in the epidemiology of WN, JE and ZIKA viruses should be investigated. At least six of these eight viruses cause fevers in humans (fevers of unknown origin comprise about one third of the febrile episodes recorded in Pakistan).

Ticks from European-Asiatic Birds Migrating through Egypt into Africa

From 321 of 7381 birds (28 species), 504 immature European-Asiatic ticks were collected: Ixodes frontalis, Haemaphysalis punctata, Haemaphysalis sulcata, Hyalomma spp. (probably mostly m. marginatum), Hyalomma aegyptium, and Hyalomma m. marginatum. Many additional detaching ticks were eaten by the hosts. Uninfested bird species numbered 29 (998 individuals).

The Ornithodoros (Alectorobius) capensis group (Acarina: Ixodoidea: Argasidae) of the palearctic and oriental regions. O. (A.) maritimus: identity, marine bird hosts, virus infections, and distribution in western Europe and northwestern Africa.

In 1967, Vermeil and Marguet described Ornithodoros coniceps maritimus from larvae reared from larvae taken from marine birds on Dumet Island (Atlantic Ocean), Basse Bretagne, France. We collected O. (A.) coniceps Canestrini, 1890, from the type locality (Venice, Italy) and determined that the taxons coniceps and maritimus each require full species status. We selected a lectotype and paralectotypes for the taxon maritimus from the original Dumet Island material. The larva of maritimus is redescribed and the nymph, male, and female are described for the first time. Collection data are recorded from Dumet and other islands off France, Aegimures Islands off Tunisia, Puffin Island off northern Wales, and Great Saltee Island off Ireland. This tick infests nesting colonies of the common tern, roseate tern, sandwich tern, herring gull (northern and Mediterranean races), common cormorant, shag, razorbill, common murre, black-legged kittiwake, and probably other marine birds nesting nearby. Adults and nymphs (tentatively identified as maritimus but lacking associated larvae for full confirmation) were taken near nests of the little egret in Lake Tunis, Tunisia. Soldado virus was isolated from Puffin Island tick samples and a Soldado-like virus from Great Saltee Island tick samples. An experimental study of West Nile virus in the Tunisian tick population is reviewed. The birds species associated with maritimus in each collecting locality, and their nesting and resting habits and migration patterns in relation to tick and arbovirus survival and distribution, will be reported in the following paper in this series.

Ecology and host-relationships of ticks (Ixodoidea) infesting domestic animals in Kassala Province, Sudan, with special reference to Amblyomma lepidum Dönitz.

Amblyomma lepidum Don., previously incriminated as a vector of heartwater (caused by Rickettsia ruminantium ) among sheep and goats, and possibly camels, in southern Kassala Province, Sudan, is apparently the only Amblyomma species in this area. Systematic collections of all ticks infesting domestic animals were carried out in November 1959, just after the rains, in five ecologically differing areas in the region most severely infected with heartwater. Though rare in desert scrub (north of 16°N. latitude) and only moderately numerous in semidesert grassland (Butana area), incidence of A. lepidum is high in wooded savannah (River Atbara) and in the cultivated Gash Delta, and highest (15·5 per host) in the Acacia seyal savannah of the River Gash. Chief hosts of adults are cattle. Sheep are secondary hosts, and camels, donkeys, and goats are less heavily infested. Two males were taken feeding on humans. Mating (breeding) activity is only slight following the rains (November). Few larvae and nymphs were found during this period; those present were mainly on sheep and goats, with a few on cattle, and these were usually feeding on the hoofs of their hosts. Rhipicephalus s. sanguineus (Latr.), the most numerous and widely distributed tick here, infests chiefly sheep and goats, is common on cattle, and also occurs on camels and donkeys. Mating activity of this species is high in November. Hyalomma dromedarii Koch is equally widely distributed and follows R. s. sanguineus in numbers, but is most frequent on camels, common on cattle, and rare on donkeys and sheep; goats were uninfested. Mating is moderately active at this season. The incidence of H. impeltatum Schulze & Schlottke, which occurs in each zone, equalled that of A. lepidum . Cattle are the chief hosts and camels are secondary hosts; donkeys, sheep, and goats are less frequently infested. Mating activity is moderate in November. Other more or less common tick species on these domestic animals are Boophilus decoloratus (Koch), R. e. evertsi Neum., R. simus Koch, H. anatolicum excavatum Koch, H. truncatum Koch and H. marginatum rufipes Koch, evidence for the status of which as a subspecies of H. marginatum Koch is to be presented in a subsequent paper. Several other rare species are also recorded.

Ornithodoros (Alectorobius) spheniscus n. sp. [Acarina: Ixodoidea: Argasidae: Ornithodoros (Alectorobius) capensis group], a tick parasite of the Humboldt penguin in Peru.

Ornithodoros (Alectorobius) spheniscus n. sp., described from wild-caught and laboratory-reared females, males, nymphs, and larvae parasitizing the Humboldt Penguin, Spheniscus humboldti Meyen, is the fifth species of the Ornithodoros (Alectorobius) capensis group to be recognized in the Neotropical Region. A related Peruvian species, Ornithodoros (Alectorobius) amblus Chamberlin, also parasitizes S. humboldti but is recorded from a wider range of marine birds breeding on the Pacific coast and offshore islands, where the birds congregate to feed on the rich fish fauna usually produced by the Humboldt current. Differential criteria are provided for the new species, O. (A.) amblus, and Ornithodoros (Alectorobius) yunkeri Keirans, Clifford, and Hoogstraal of the Galapagos. These 3 members of the O. (A.) capensis group parasitize marine birds associated with the Humboldt current in western South America and the Galapagos. Persons visiting Humboldt Penguin breeding sites in caves and on barren coastal ledges are eagerly attacked by nymphal and adult O. (A.) spheniscus and suffer afterward from pruritus and slowly-healing blisters. The O. (A.) spheniscus life cycle required 128 to 193 days in the laboratory and, as typical of bird-parasitizing members of the subgenus Alectorobius, the first nymphal instar did not feed.

Haemaphysalis (Allophysalis) kopetdaghica: identity and discovery of each feeding stage on the wild goat in Northern Iran (Ixodoidea: Ixodidae).

Haemaphysalis (Allophysalis) kopetdaghica Kerbabaev 1962, was poorly described and crudely sketched from 3 males, 1 female, 3 nymphs, and 3 larvae taken from a wild goat, leopard, and domestic horse in the upper belt of the Kopet Dag Mountains, Turkmen SSR. The validity of this taxon has been questioned by Soviet and other specialists. However, 117 adults and 88 immatures of a single Haemaphysalis species recently taken from a young wild goat at ca. 2,400 m altitude in the Elburz Mountains of Iran represent this taxon beyond a reasonable doubt. The Iranian sample is redescribed, illustrated, and compared biologically and structurally with the 6 other species comprising the subgenus Allophysalis Hoogstraal, which inhabit 2,500 to 4,000 m altitude zones from the Caspian area to Mongolia (Iran, USSR, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, China, and Mongolia). Ungulates (goral, serow, thar, musk deer, ibex, yak, sheep, goat, cow, horse) are the chief hosts of adults of each Allophysalis species and also of the immatures of some species (immatures of one species are recorded from the monal pheasant as well as from ungulates). Rodents and the pika are the chief hosts of immatures of a second group of species in this subgenus. The distinctive H. (A.) kopetdaghica shares several specialized structural features between the immature and adult stages and shows less sexual dimorphism than in other Allophysalis

Observations on the subgenus Argas (Ixodoidea: argasidae: Argas). 17. Argas (A.) polonicus sp. n. parasitizing domestic pigeons in Krakow, Poland.

Argas (A.) polonicus sp. n. is described from males, females, nymphs, and larvae from the steeple tower of St. Marys Church, Karkow, Poland, where it feeds on domestic rock pigeons, Columba livia Gmelin. This species is related to the widely distributed Eurasian A. (A.) vulgaris Filippova and to certain other species of the eastern area of the Palearctic Faunal Region; it differs distinctly from A. (A.) reflexus (Fabricius) of western Europe. Comparative study under the light microscope. and especially under the scanning electron microscope, reveals numerous structural differences in adult and immature stages of these species, chiefly in the Hallers organ roof of each stage, adult body shape and integumental formations, dental formulae, and setal lengths and numbers on the larval dorsum.

Aride virus, a new ungrouped arbovirus infectingAmblyomma loculosum ticks from roseate terns in the Seychelles

SummaryA previously undescribed arbovirus, proposed name Aride virus, was recovered fromAmblyomma loculosum Neumann, collected from dead roseate ternsSterna dougallii arideensis Mathews in the Seychelles. Some important tick-virus-host associations are discussed.

THE ORNITHODOROS (ALECTOROBIUS) CAPENSIS GROUP (ACARINA: IXODOIDEA: ARGASIDAE) OF THE PALEARCTIC AND ORIENTAL REGIONS. O. (A.) CONICEPS IDENTITY, BIRD AND MAMMAL HOSTS, VIRUS INFECTIONS, AND DISTRIBUTION IN EUROPE, AFRICA, AND ASIA*

Ornithodoros (Alectorobius) coniceps (Canestrini 1890), which was briefly described from adult specimens from St. Marks Cathedral, Venice, Italy, has been a confusing taxon. We redescribe and illustrate the adult and immature stages from St. Marks Cathedral (topotypes) and elsewhere, list criteria to distinguish this species from others in the O. (A.) capensis complex, and provide data for 36 collections, chiefly from nest sites of wild and domestic pigeons in humid, rocky situations, and from a nest of the pallid swift, in Italy, France, Egypt, Kenya, Israel, Jordan, Afghanistan, Ukrainia, and Turkmenia. Other collections of small-sized adults and nymphs, lacking larvae, from pigeon, swallow, and swift nest in Nepal, India, and Sri Lanka, are tentatively assigned to this taxon. This is the only member of the O. (A.) capensis group not associated with marine or wading birds. Humans bitten by O. (A.) coniceps in buildings or caves may suffer from pain, edema, chills, and fever. BAku virus (Reoviridae) has been isolated from this tick in Uzbekistan, but most reports of other viruses and infectious agents are clouded by probable misidentification of O. (A.) maritimus as O. (A. coniceps. Published data on the life cycle and dynamics are reviewed briefly. Previously, this tick has not been reported from the Ethiopian Faunal Region (Kenya).