Most of the several dozen hard ticks in the genus Dermacentor have a 3-host life cycle. Dermacentor ticks are found on all continents except Australia and Antarctica. In Eurasia, D. marginalis and D. reticulatus are well known as ectoparasites of livestock and other domestic animals, whereas in North America D. variabilis and D. andersoni parasitize livestock and dogs and may sometimes feed on humans as well. Dermacentor ticks are not significant pests of livestock in Africa. Dermacentor reticulatus is a vector for Rickettsia sibirica, which causes Siberian tick typhus in the former Soviet Union. Dermacentor variabilis and D. andersoni are vectors for Rickettsia rickettsia bacteria, which cause Rocky Mountain spotted fever, a life-threatening but treatable disease that is endemic to much of the United States and beyond, as well as tularemia (caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis); these ticks are not known to transmit Lyme disease. (Jongejan and Uilenberg 2004; U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention Tick Website)
Dermacentor is a genus of ticks in the family Ixodidae, the hard ticks. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution, with native species on all continents except Australia. Most occur in the Nearctic realm.[2]
Hosts of Dermacentor ticks include many large and small mammals, including horses, deer, cattle, lagomorphs, peccaries, porcupines, tapirs, desert bighorn sheep, and humans.[2] The American dog tick (D. variabilis) is a member of the genus.[3]
Dermacentor species are vectors of many pathogens, including Rickettsia rickettsii, which causes the disease Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Coxiella burnetii, which causes Q fever, Anaplasma marginale, which causes anaplasmosis in cattle, Francisella tularensis, which causes tularemia, Babesia caballi, which causes equine piroplasmosis, and the Flavivirus that causes Powassan encephalitis.[2] Dermacentor ticks inject a neurotoxin that causes tick paralysis.[2]
As of 2019, about 41 species are placed in the genus:
Dermacentor is a genus of ticks in the family Ixodidae, the hard ticks. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution, with native species on all continents except Australia. Most occur in the Nearctic realm.
Hosts of Dermacentor ticks include many large and small mammals, including horses, deer, cattle, lagomorphs, peccaries, porcupines, tapirs, desert bighorn sheep, and humans. The American dog tick (D. variabilis) is a member of the genus.
Dermacentor species are vectors of many pathogens, including Rickettsia rickettsii, which causes the disease Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Coxiella burnetii, which causes Q fever, Anaplasma marginale, which causes anaplasmosis in cattle, Francisella tularensis, which causes tularemia, Babesia caballi, which causes equine piroplasmosis, and the Flavivirus that causes Powassan encephalitis. Dermacentor ticks inject a neurotoxin that causes tick paralysis.
