Hard tick factors implicated in pathogen transmission.

Ticks are the most common arthropod vector, after mosquitoes, and are capable of transmitting the greatest variety of pathogens. For both humans and animals, the worldwide emergence or re-emergence of tick-borne disease is becoming increasingly problematic. Despite being such an important issue, our...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
Main Authors: Xiang Ye Liu, Sarah I Bonnet
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0002566
https://doaj.org/article/cc0e87f4ed8b463894beb4cdf00969c2
Description
Summary:Ticks are the most common arthropod vector, after mosquitoes, and are capable of transmitting the greatest variety of pathogens. For both humans and animals, the worldwide emergence or re-emergence of tick-borne disease is becoming increasingly problematic. Despite being such an important issue, our knowledge of pathogen transmission by ticks is incomplete. Several recent studies, reviewed here, have reported that the expression of some tick factors can be modulated in response to pathogen infection, and that some of these factors can impact on the pathogenic life cycle. Delineating the specific tick factors required for tick-borne pathogen transmission should lead to new strategies in the disruption of pathogen life cycles to combat emerging tick-borne disease.