Identification of Tick Species Collected from Wild Boars and Habitats of Wild Boars and Domestic Pigs in the Republic of Korea

Abstract

Tick is one of the most important arthropods in the transmission of vector-borne diseases. In this study, we investigated the abundance and species of ticks associated with swine and their habitats to assess the risk of spread of tick-borne diseases in host species, such as wild boars. Ticks were collected from 24 grazing or traditionally reared domestic pig farms and 8 habitats of wild boars in 8 provinces and 1 city in the Republic of Korea, by using the dragging and flagging methods. Ticks were also collected directly from 49 wild boars by using fine forceps. A total of 9,846 hard ticks were collected, including 4,977 <i>Haemaphysalis longicornis</i>, 4,313 <i>Haemaphysalis flava</i>, 508 <i>Ixodes nipponensis</i>, 1 <i>Ixodes turdus</i>, and 47 <i>Amblyomma testudinarium</i>. A total of 240 hard ticks were collected from 49 wild boars, including 109 <i>H. flava</i>, 84 <i>H. longicornis</i>, and 47 <i>A. testudinarium</i>. A total of 578 hard ticks were collected from areas around domestic pig farms. Only 2 hard tick species, 546 <i>H. longicornis</i> and 32 <i>H. flava</i>, were collected from these areas. A total of 9,028 hard ticks were collected from wild boars of 8 habitats, including 4,347 <i>H. longicornis</i>, 4,172 <i>H. flava</i>, 508 <i>I. nipponensis</i>, and 1 <i>I. turdus</i>. <i>A. testudinarium</i> was collected only from wild boars, and <i>I. nipponensis</i> and <i>I. turdus</i> were collected only from the habitats of wild boars.