![]() Fluid therapy with 2.5% dextrose/0.45% sodium chloride (Baxter Healthcare, Deerfield, Illinois, USA) was given twice a day at 10% body weight subcutaneously. Affected birds were immediately placed in oxygen-supported intensive care units. Birds included resident, active rehabilitation, pending release, and newly admitted from the wild but not yet housed in the facility. Each animal underwent physical examination and was routinely checked for external parasites. Samples collected from 2014 to 2015 were used for this study. Our objectives were to identify the species of tick and to test ticks and avian blood samples for selected tick-borne pathogens to detail the host–vector–pathogen interactions that may be important for improving bird health. The appearance of a previously undetected tick species in a situation where diverse bird species showed severe clinical manifestations was cause of great concern not only for bird health and conservation, but also for unknown zoonotic risk to humans. ![]() Each infested bird showed all or a combination of moribundity, obtundity, and paralysis on presentation without prior history of illness or evidence of trauma. During our study in 2014–15, we noted tick infestations on approximately 1% of the birds taken in during these years, and all the infested birds were sampled. The management of soft tick–infested birds and mitigation of future disease risk will require additional characterizations of these poorly studied soft ticks and their associated pathogens.įrom 2009 through 2015 during the late summer rainy season, soft ticks (Argasidae) were noted on several birds presented to the Tucson Wildlife Center, a wildlife rehabilitation facility in south-central Arizona that admits 3,000–4,000 animals per year, of which three quarters are birds. With supportive therapy, the majority of birds, 74% (17/23), recovered and were released or permanent residents. this Red-tailed Hawk also had Borrelia-positive ticks. ![]() Among the blood samples, one was infected with the same Borrelia spp. Pathogen testing of ticks showed that 41% of 54 ticks were infected with Rickettsia hoogstraalii and 23% of 26 ticks were infected with a relapsing fever Borrelia both agents are associated with uncertain health consequences. Ticks were identified as the neotropical species of soft tick, Argas ( Persicargas) giganteus their occurrence in the southern US on raptors represented an expansion of host range. Tick and avian blood samples were collected for vector-borne pathogen analysis focusing on the molecular detection of Rickettsia and Borrelia species. Infested birds were moribund, obtunded, or paralyzed on presentation, with no prior histories of illness or evidence of trauma. The parasites numbered in the hundreds on individual birds. From 2014 through 2015, a wildlife rehabilitation center in south-central Arizona, US noted soft ticks (Argasidae) infesting 23 birds, including Cooper's Hawks ( Accipiter cooperii), Gray Hawks ( Buteo plagiatus), Harris's Hawks ( Parabuteo unicinctus), Red-tailed Hawks ( Buteo jamaicensis), Great Horned Owls ( Bubo virginianus), Common Ravens ( Corvus corax), and a Greater Roadrunner ( Geococcyx californianus), during the late summer seasonal rainy seasons. Changing climatic conditions and the northward expansion of ticks and pathogens are of immense importance to human, animal, and environmental health assessment and risk management.
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