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. 2024 Dec 5;10(24):e40895.
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e40895. eCollection 2024 Dec 30.

Ticks as vectors of Trypanosomatidae with medical or veterinary interest: Insights and implications from a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis

Tahar Kernif  1   2 , Bachir Medrouh  3 , Naouel Eddaikra  1 , Bruno Oury  2 , Philippe Holzmuller  4 , Denis Sereno  2
Affiliations

Ticks as vectors of Trypanosomatidae with medical or veterinary interest: Insights and implications from a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis

Tahar Kernif et al. Heliyon. .

Abstract

Since the 20th century, numerous studies have detected or isolated parasites from the Trypanosomatidae family in various tick species. However, the status of ticks as vectors for medically or veterinary significant Trypanosoma and Leishmania remains unclear. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to provide new insights into the potential vector status of these pathogens, which have significant medical and veterinary implications. We searched three databases (PubMed, Google Scholar, and Web of Science) from 1912 to June 30, 2023, resulting in 94 papers included in the qualitative analysis and 86 papers in the quantitative analysis. All identified field studies were conducted in endemic areas and investigated the presence of Trypanosoma and Leishmania parasites, DNA, or antigens in ticks. We recorded a pooled prevalence of Trypanosomatidae detection in ticks at 15.48 % [7.99-24.61 %], with significant variations depending on the year, detection method, and geographical area. Most of the infected tick species belonged to the genera Amblyomma, Hyalomma, Ixodes, and Rhipicephalus. Experimental laboratory work on transmission routes demonstrated potential vector competence in both the Argasidae and Ixodidae tick families. Although our systematic review and meta-analysis provide compelling evidence of the natural infection of ticks by Trypanosomatidae parasites, along with some evidence of non-traditional transmission routes, they do not offer conclusive evidence regarding the role of ticks as biological or mechanical vectors for Trypanosomatidae species of veterinary and medical interest. This highlights the urgent need for additional investigations to address this point.

Keywords: Argasidae; Ixodidae; Leishmania; Ticks; Trypanosoma; Trypanosomatidae; Vector borne disease.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests:Kernif Tahar reports financial support and travel were provided by 10.13039/501100000780European Union. Sereno Denis reports financial support, administrative support, and article publishing charges were provided by 10.13039/501100000780European Union. Denis Sereno reports a relationship with 10.13039/501100000780European Union that includes: funding grants. Kernif Tahar reports a relationship with 10.13039/501100000780European Union that includes: funding grants and travel reimbursement. No additional information If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
PRISMA flowchart illustrating the process of the systematic review and meta-analysis.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Temporal distribution of collected and selected scientific papers.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Forest plot showing the prevalence of Trypanosomatidae detection in field-collected ticks. The horizontal lines represent the 95 % confidence intervals, while the diamond indicates the pooled effect size.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Funnel plot with 95 % confidence intervals for assessing publication bias.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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