Pilar Mazo
Logroño, May 30 (EFE).- Vector arthropods -including ticks- are a global public health problem and are estimated to be responsible for 17% of the burden of infectious diseases due to certain episodes of droughts, with subsequent intense rains, the researcher and international expert in this field, José Antonio Oteo, told EFE.
This type of invertebrate, which also includes mosquitoes, flies, fleas and lice, transmit bacteria, viruses, protozoa, worms and toxins, for example; and the drought, the increase in temperatures and, “perhaps, the lack of control of animal populations”, make this type of disease “go in crescendo”, he has assured.
This was defended by the director of the Special Pathogens Laboratory and the VHI Research Unit of the La Rioja Biomedical Research Center (CIBIR) and head of the Infectious Diseases Unit of the San Pedro de Logroño University Hospital.
“Invasive species” of these vector arthropods are being detected, detailed Oteo, who recalled that, in Spain, “a few years ago the tiger mosquito was detected, which transmits a lot of infectious diseases.”
However, in 2017, a species of invasive Asian tick, called “Haemaphisalis longicornis” and which transmits a “very serious” disease, appeared in New Jersey (USA) and in 2018 its presence had been detected in practically all of that country; as well as in China, Korea and Japan.
Although, for the moment, there are no cases of this tick disease in the United States, it has a “tremendous invasion” capacity, in addition to the fact that another virus has been detected in this country, bourbon, which is “a threat of public health”, which requires “knowing the risks”.
According to Oteo, human, animal and environmental health go hand in hand and decisions cannot be made only taking into account what happens in just one of them, but there must be a global approach.
“We do nothing to protect ourselves if we do not control what is happening in the animals or in the environment because they have a totally direct relationship with our health,” emphasized Oteo, who this Tuesday is speaking at the College of Physicians of La Rioja, about the epidemics that will come in the 21st century.
He has recognized that there is greater awareness in diagnosing tick-borne diseases, but populations of wild animals are not controlled, which must be done because it is important to observe the number of these arthropod vectors.
For example, “if there are millions of uncontrolled rabbits, there are millions of ticks that parasitize on them and, directly, it does seem that it may be the cause of rickettsiosis -tick-borne diseases- that we described in Spain ten years ago”, although it was previously detected in France.
“I’m not a proponent of hunting, but there has to be a balance; There cannot be so many animals loose because it creates a greater possibility that ticks or mosquitoes, among other vector arthropods, increase and can close the cycle ”, he indicated.
MANY TICKS IN THE PARKS
He has referred to the fact that “in the parks there are many ticks, something that in the past did not exist, and it is because there are many animals” and, for example, “dogs, if they are not well sanitized, go out into the field and also bring ticks to the parks”.
In the same way, he has cited the importance of raising awareness among the population in other actions, such as not leaving water under the containers on which the potted plants are deposited as they are a focus of attraction for this type of vector arthropods.
Among the diseases transmitted by ticks, Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever has stood out, which in Spain was detected for the first time in 2010 in ticks collected from deer in Cáceres and, since then, multiple cases have been described in the country.
It is a condition that can kill up to 20 to 30 percent of the people who suffer from it and, as such, it must be known and diagnosed in time and try to prevent it because twelve cases have already been published, with some deaths.
In this context, he stressed that “climate change, especially warming, is closely related to arthropod vectors”, since it will increase their survival and reproduction.
In addition, in Europe, one of the most important vector arthropods, “at the moment”, are hard ticks, which transmit, among others, Lyme disease.