Systematic & Applied Acarology
ISSN 1362-1971
An international journal of the Systematic and Applied Acarology Society, published since 1996

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Systematic & Applied Acarology (2010) 15, 100–108.

Tick surveillance of small mammals captured in Gyeonggi and Gangwon Provinces, Republic of Korea, 2004–2008

HEUNG CHUL KIM1, SUNG TAE CHONG1, WILLIAM J. SAMES2, PETER V. NUNN1, STEPHEN P. WOLF3, RICHARD G. ROBBINS3, 5 & TERRY A. KLEIN4

15th Medical Detachment, 168th Multifunctional Medical Battalion, 65th Medical Brigade, Unit 15247, APO AP 96205-5247, U.S.A.

2 AFPMB, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, DC 20307-5001, U.S.A.

3 Medical Entomology Services, Detachment 3, US Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine, Unit 5213, Kadena AB, Okinawa, APO AP 96368-5213, Japan

4 Force Health Protection and Preventive Medicine, 65th Medical Brigade/U.S. Army MEDDAC-Korea, Unit 15281, APO AP 96205-5281, U.S.A.

5 Corresponding author. E-mail: richard.robbins@osd.mil

Abstract

A total of 4,575 ticks were collected from 5,953 small mammals captured from March 2004 to December 2008 at 19 military training areas and 6 US military installations, Gyeonggi and Gangwon Provinces, Republic of Korea. Ixodes nipponensis (98.9%; 753 nymphs, 3,771 larvae) was the most frequently collected tick, found on six of the 11 small mammal species captured, followed by Ixodes pomerantzevi (1.1%; 17 females, 9 nymphs, 24 larvae) found on two species. While only one T. sibiricus was collected, it was infested with 44 ticks, with an infestation rate of 100.0%, followed by Rattus norvegicus (16.7%, n=18), Apodemus agrarius (14.6%, n=5,397), Crocidura lasiura (7.5%, n=265), Microtus fortis (7.3%, n=82), Myodes regulus (5.7%, n=53), and Micromys minutus (4.8%, n=63). No ticks were collected from Apodemus peninsulae (n=3), Mus musculus (n=58), Tscherskia triton (n=12), and Mogera wogura (n=1). Ixodes nipponensis nymphs were most frequently collected from small mammals from March to April, while larvae were more frequently collected during September. Ixodes pomerantzevi was collected only during February-April 2008, and a single Haemaphysalis flava nymph was collected from A. agrarius in August 2004.

Key words: Ixodes nipponensis, Ixodes pomerantzevi, Haemaphysalis flava, hosts, distribution, seasonality

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Accepted by Owen Seeman: 22 Jun. 2010; published 30 Jul. 2010
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