Publications

transcriptional immunoprofiling at the tick-virus-host interface during early stages of tick-borne encephalitis virus transmission.	emerging and re-emerging diseases transmitted by blood feeding arthropods are significant global public health problems. ticks transmit the greatest variety of pathogenic microorganisms of any blood feeding arthropod. infectious agents transmitted by ticks are delivered to the vertebrate host together with saliva at the bite site. tick salivary glands produce complex cocktails of bioactive molecules that facilitate blood feeding and pathogen transmission by modulating host hemostasis, pain/itch ...	2017	29250492
diversity of borrelia spirochetes and other zoonotic agents in ticks from kyiv, ukraine.	lyme borreliosis (lb) is caused by tick-borne spirochetes of the borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex. lb is the most prevalent vector-borne illness in ukraine, but current data on the prevalence of lb pathogens in their tick vector, ixodes ricinus, are lacking. i. ricinus ticks may also carry borrelia miyamotoi, an emerging relapsing fever group spirochete that has been implicated in human illness. despite its zoonotic potential, the prevalence of b. miyamotoi in ticks has not been examined ...	2017	29258801
molecular identification of borrelia spirochetes in questing ixodes ricinus from northwestern spain.	ixodes ricinus, the predominant tick species in europe, can transmit the causative agents of important human diseases such as lyme borreliosis (lb), caused by borrelia spirochetes. in northern spain, lb is considered endemic; recently, a significant increase of the annual incidence of lb was reported in the northwestern (nw) region.	2017	29262835
characterization of ixodes ricinus fibrinogen-related proteins (ixoderins) discloses their function in the tick innate immunity.	ticks are important vectors of serious human and animal disease-causing organisms, but their innate immunity can fight invading pathogens and may have the ability to reduce or block transmission to mammalian hosts. lectins, sugar-binding proteins, can distinguish between self and non-self-oligosaccharide motifs on pathogen surfaces. although tick hemolymph possesses strong lectin activity, and several lectins have already been isolated and characterized, little is known about the implementation ...	2017	29276701
prevalence of different rickettsia spp. in ixodes ricinus and dermacentor reticulatus ticks (acari: ixodidae) in north-eastern poland.	in two surveys conducted in april and may 2013, a total of 1148 unfed ticks belonging to two species, ixodes ricinus and dermacentor reticulatus, were collected by flagging lower vegetation in 15 different localities throughout the białowieża primeval forest (podlaskie voivodship; north-eastern poland) and in its buffer zone. in order to establish their infection rate with rickettsia spp. individual adult ticks and pooled nymphs were tested by real-time pcr targeting the glta gene. for the furth ...	2017	29290582
evaluation of a semi-automated in vitro feeding system for dermacentor reticulatus and ixodes ricinus adults.	the long feeding duration of ixodid ticks and need for regular blood changes turns the artificial feeding of ticks into a tedious process. to reduce the number of blood changes, a semi-automated system (sas) for the artificial feeding of hard ticks was developed and evaluated. it consisted of a glass feeding reservoir that can accommodate six tick feeding chambers. a peristaltic pump was used to pump blood through the feeding reservoir, which was changed once daily. groups of dermacentor reticul ...	2018	29297094
epidemiology, genetic variants and clinical course of natural infections with anaplasma phagocytophilum in a dairy cattle herd.	anaplasma phagocytophilum is an obligate intracellular, tick-transmitted bacterium that causes granulocytic anaplasmosis in humans and several mammalian species including domestic ruminants where it is called tick-borne fever (tbf). different genetic variants exist but their impact with regard to putative differences in host associations and pathogenicity are not yet completely understood.	2018	29310697
habitat properties are key drivers of borrelia burgdorferi (s.l.) prevalence in ixodes ricinus populations of deciduous forest fragments.	the tick ixodes ricinus has considerable impact on the health of humans and other terrestrial animals because it transmits several tick-borne pathogens (tbps) such as b. burgdorferi (sensu lato), which causes lyme borreliosis (lb). small forest patches of agricultural landscapes provide many ecosystem services and also the disservice of lb risk. biotic interactions and environmental filtering shape tick host communities distinctively between specific regions of europe, which makes evaluating the ...	2018	29310722
prevalence of borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in ixodes ricinus ticks and assessment of entomological risk index at localities in belgrade.	the first case of human lyme borreliosis (lb) in serbia was recorded in 1987. the number of reported lb cases has increased in the past decade. the aim of this study was to estimate the density of ixodes ricinus (i. ricinus) ticks, the prevalence of borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (b. burgdorferi) in them, and entomological risk index (eri) at 19 belgrade localities which were grouped into three categories (forests, parkforests, parks). the values of eri were compared with the number of tick bit ...	2016	29320145
nonspecific bacterial flora isolated from the body surface and inside ixodes ricinus ticks.	ixodes ricinus and other representatives of the order ixodida are vectors of typical pathogens: borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, anaplasma phagocytophilium, babesia spp., a tick-borne encephalitis virus, and other microorganisms which are important from a medical and veterinary point of view. the presented study focuses on the verification of nonspecific bacterial flora of i. ricinus. we analyzed ticks collected in a forest region in silesia, an industrial district in poland. methods of classica ...	2012	29334060
first detection of murine herpesvirus 68 in adult ixodes ricinus ticks.	murine herpesvirus 68 (mhv-68) is a natural pathogen that infects murid rodents, which serves as hosts for ixodes ricinus ticks. for the first time, mhv-68 was detected in immature i. ricinus ticks feeding on lacerta viridis lizards trapped in slovakia, which supports the idea that ticks can acquire the virus from feeding on infected hosts. the recent discovery of mhv-68 infection and mhv-68 m3 gene transcripts in dermacentor reticulatus ticks collected in slovakia also supports this suggestion. ...	2018	29352410
isolated populations of ixodes lividus ticks in the czech republic and belgium host genetically homogeneous rickettsia vini.	in the last two decades, the advent of molecular methods has revealed a remarkable diversity of rickettsiae (rickettsiales: rickettsiaceae) in invertebrates. several species of these obligate intracellular bacteria are known to cause human infections, hence more attention has been directed towards human-biting ectoparasites. a spotted fever group rickettsia sp. was previously detected in ixodes lividus ticks (ixodidae) associated with sand martins (hirundinidae: riparia riparia). in order to ide ...	2018	29373306