Ticks and Tick-borne diseases in Ireland

Abstract

Throughout Europe interest in tick-borne agents is increasing, particularly with regard to those that can cause human disease. The reason for this is the apparent rise in the incidence of many tick-borne diseases (TBD's). While there has never been a national survey of ticks or TBD's in Ireland, the trend here appears to be the reverse with a decline in the incidence of some agents seemingly associated with decreasing tick numbers particularly on agricultural land. In the absence of robust baseline data, however, this development cannot be confirmed. This review collates the limited information available from several dated published records on tick species and a small number of studies focused on certain TBD's. Some pilot data on tick density and TBD agents collected in 2016 are also presented. The aim is to explore the particular situation in Ireland with regard to ticks and TBD's and to provide a reference for future workers in the field.

Keywords: Anaplasma; Babesia; Borrelia; Ixodes ricinus; Louping ill; Tick-borne diseases; Ticks.

Fig. 1

Tick abundance and presence of tick-borne disease agents as indicated by the pilot survey carried out in 2016. Only ticks collected by blanket dragging are included. Ana, Bor, Bab indicate presence of A. phagocytophilum, Borrelia & Babesia spp in pooled tick samples