Haemaphysalis hoodi (Acari: Ixodidae) on a human from Yaoundé, Cameroon, and its molecular characterization

Archile Paguem; Ben J Mans; Manchang Kingsley; Alfons Renz; Dmitry A Apanaskevich; Lidia Chitimia-Dobler

doi:10.1007/s00436-022-07613-5

Haemaphysalis hoodi (Acari: Ixodidae) on a human from Yaoundé, Cameroon, and its molecular characterization

Parasitol Res. 2022 Oct;121(10):2887-2890. doi: 10.1007/s00436-022-07613-5. Epub 2022 Aug 5.

Authors

Archile Paguem^{1

2}, Ben J Mans^{3

4

5}, Manchang Kingsley², Alfons Renz¹, Dmitry A Apanaskevich^{6

7

8}, Lidia Chitimia-Dobler⁹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Comparative Zoology, Institute of Evolution and Ecology, University of Tübingen, 72076, Tübingen, Germany.
² Department of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, University of Buea, Buea, Cameroon.
³ Epidemiology, Parasites and Vectors, Agricultural Research Council-Onderstepoort Veterinary Research, Onderstepoort, South Africa.
⁴ The Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
⁵ Department of Life and Consumer Sciences, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa.
⁶ United States National Tick Collection, The James H. Oliver, Jr. Institute for Coastal Plain Science, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA, 30460-8042, USA.
⁷ Department of Biology, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA, 30460, USA.
⁸ Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, 199034, Russia.
⁹ Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology, Neuherbergstrasse 11, 80937, Munich, Germany. lydiachitimia@gmail.com.

Abstract

The genus Haemaphysalis Koch, 1844 (Acari: Ixodidae) is the second-largest genus, with more than 170 described species that primarily parasitize mammals and birds (Guglielmone et al. 2014, Guglielmone et al. 2020). Haemaphysalis species are three-host ticks, mainly distributed in southern and southeastern Asia and tropical Africa (Guglielmone et al. 2014). The present study identified a tick, Haemaphysalis hoodi Warburton & Nuttall, 1909, collected from a human in Yaoundé, Cameroon. This tick species feed on birds in sub-Saharan Africa. To the best of our knowledge, this is the second record of H. hoodi from humans. In addition, 16S ribosomal RNA and cytochrome oxidase I sequences were generated for this species for the first time. Screening pan-Rickettsia-PCR infection gave a negative result.

Keywords: Cameroon; Haemaphysalis hoodi; Human; Tick.

MeSH terms

Animals
Birds
Cameroon
Humans
Ixodidae* / genetics
Mammals
Tick Infestations* / veterinary
Ticks*