Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae), in contrast to ticks (Acari: Ixodidae), do not carry Francisella tularensis in a natural focus of tularemia in the Czech Republic

Abstract

In total, 9,167 mosquitoes (Aedes spp.) and 1,987 ixodid ticks--1,423 Dermacentor reticulatus (F.), 504 Ixodes ricinus (L.), and 60 Haemaphysalis concinna Koch--were examined in an active enzootic focus (floodplain forest-meadow ecosystem) of tularemia in South Moravia. Czech Republic. Although no F. tularensis was detected in mosquitoes or H. concinna, 30 isolates were recovered from D. reticulatus (infection rate, 2.1%) and 1 isolate from I. ricinus (infection rate, 0.2%). Ixodid ticks, especially D. reticulatus, but not mosquitoes serve as vectors (and perhaps reservoirs) of F. tularensis at this natural focus.