Publications

obseravations on the biology of the argasid tick ornithodoros puertoricensis fox.		1955	14354530
ornithodoros (alectorobius) puertoricensis (acari: argasidae): redescription by scanning electron microscopy.	the female, male, nymphal instars, and larva of ornithodoros puertoricensis fox are redescribed from specimens collected in haiti. data on host species and geographic distribution are also presented.	1989	2724311
experimental transmission of african swine fever virus by the tick ornithodoros (alectorobius) puertoricensis (acari: argasidae).	the soft tick ornithodoros puertoricensis fox has been found on the caribbean island of hispaniola (haiti and the dominican republic) where african swine fever (asf) was endemic from 1978 to 1984. to evaluate the vector potential of o. puertoricensis for african swine fever virus (asfv), second-instar nymphs were experimentally infected by feeding on a viremic pig that was infected with the dominican republic isolate (dr-ii) of asfv. subsequent infection rates and mean virus titers for individua ...	1991	1770521
wildlife as hosts for ticks (acari) in antigua, west indies.	a survey was conducted to determine the status of wild mammals and birds as hosts for amblyomma variegatum (f.) and other tick species in antigua. surveys of wild mammals and birds were conducted periodically from september 1988 through may 1991. wild mammals surveyed included the small indian mongoose (herpestes auropunctatus hodgson), norway rat (rattus norvegicus berkenhout), and house mouse (mus musculus l.), but only mongooses were surveyed intensively. larvae and nymphs of a. variegatum, l ...	1994	8158630
surveys for ectoparasites on wildlife associated with amblyomma variegatum (acari: ixodidae)-infested livestock in st. croix, u.s. virgin islands.	surveys in 2001, 2005, and 2006 attempted to determine the role of wildlife in maintenance and dissemination of the tropical bont tick, amblyomma variegatum (f.) (acari: ixodidae), in st. croix, u.s. virgin islands. small mammals; birds; white-tailed deer, odocoileus virginianus (zimmermann); and feral cattle, bos taurus l., were examined at nine premises, in mountainous rain forest, and in surrounding areas in western st. croix, an area including and central to all known bont tick-infested prem ...	2009	19960701
relapsing fever borrelia in ornithodoros ticks from bolivia.		2011	21929883
ornithodoros guaporensis (acari, ixodida: argasidae), a new tick species from the guapore river basin in the bolivian amazon.	the soft tick ornithodoros guaporensis n. sp. (acari: ixodida: argasidae) is described from larvae and adults. morphological analysis and 16s rdna sequences are provided. adults were collected from a rocky fissure inhabited by bats located in the amazonian forest in north-eastern bolivia (beni department) close to the guapord river. larvae were obtained from eggs laid by females collected in the field, and which were fed on rabbits in the laboratory. larvae of o. guaporensis are morphologically ...	2013	26217870
the ticks (acari: ixodida: argasidae, ixodidae) of bolivia.	the tick species reported in bolivia are reviewed here as (1) endemic or established: ornithodoros echimys, o. guaporensis, o. hasei, o. kohlsi, o. mimon, o. peropteryx, o. rostratus, otobius megnini, amblyomma auricularium, a. cajennense, a. calcaratum, a. coelebs, a. dubitatum, a. humerale, a. incisum, a. longirostre, a. naponense, a. nodosum, a. oblongoguttatum, a. ovale, a. parvitarsum, a. parvum, a. pecarium, a. pseudoconcolor, a. rotundatum, a. scalpturatum, a. tigrinum, a. triste, dermace ...	2014	24406053
molecular characterization of a defensin gene from a hard tick, dermacentor silvarum.	ticks are distributed worldwide and considered as vectors of many human diseases. tick defensins, a family of antimicrobial peptides, form the first line of defense against pathogens.	2015	25588982
ornithodoros faccinii n. sp. (acari: ixodida: argasidae) parasitizing the frog thoropa miliaris (amphibia: anura: cycloramphidae) in brazil.	most argasid ticks from the neotropical region are parasites of mammals and birds, with a few records from reptiles. many species of the genus ornithodoros are known only through larval descriptions, and their chaetotaxy and morphological characteristics have been used to separate the taxa. in the present study, we describe the larva and the nymph of first instar of a new species of the genus ornithodoros that was collected from frogs of the species thoropa miliaris.	2015	25963542
a new species of ornithodoros (acari: argasidae) from desert areas of northern chile.	ornithodoros atacamensis n. sp. is described from larvae collected on the lizard liolaemus bisignatus and from free-living adults collected in desert areas from the pan de azúcar and llanos de challe national parks, in northern chile. additionally, unengorged larvae were obtained from fertilized females, which laid eggs in the laboratory. morphological and mitochondrial 16s rdna sequence analyses were performed in order to compare this new soft tick species with other congeneric neotropical repr ...	2016	27132517
host body size and the diversity of tick assemblages on neotropical vertebrates.	identifying the factors that influence the species diversity and distribution of ticks (acari: ixodida) across vertebrate host taxa is of fundamental ecological and medical importance. host body size is considered one of the most important determinants of tick abundance, with larger hosts having higher tick burdens. the species diversity of tick assemblages should also be greater on larger-bodied host species, but empirical studies testing this hypothesis are lacking. here, we evaluate this rela ...	2016	27812506
host specificity in a diverse neotropical tick community: an assessment using quantitative network analysis and host phylogeny.	host specificity is a fundamental determinant of tick population and pathogen transmission dynamics, and therefore has important implications for human health. tick host specificity is expected to be particularly high in the tropics, where communities of ticks, hosts and pathogens are most diverse. yet the degree to which tropical tick species are host-specific remains poorly understood. combining new field data with published records, we assessed the specificity of tick-host associations in pan ...	2016	27357506
new records of ornithodoros puertoricensis fox 1947 (ixodida: argasidae) parasitizing humans in rural and urban dwellings, panama.	the presence of ticks inside human constructions was evaluated in two localities from colon province (charco la piedra and espinar) and one from panama province (ancon, city of panama). in two of houses, eight people from charco la piedra and one from ancón reported "insect bites," which produced blisters for several weeks. the investigation resulted in the collection of argasid ticks, which were identified by morphology and sequencing the 16s ribosomal rna gene, and later evaluated for the pres ...	2017	28196664