TICK-BORNE INFECTIOUS DISEASES WITH REFERENCE TO EGYPT

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Military Medical Academy, Egypt.

2 Ministry of Interior Hospitals, Faculty of Medicine, University of Cairo, Egypt.

3 Ministry of Interior Hospitals and Faculty of Medicine, University of Ain Shams, Egypt

Abstract

Ticks are hematophagous ectoparasites of man, domestic and street animals, and birds of health and economic hazard worldwide. They transmit many micro-organisms and protozoan infectious diseases and their toxins cause different signs and symptoms that may be fatal according to the infesting tick saliva protein. In Egypt where there are many rural and urban areas, so many genera and species of ticks are encountered. The Egyptian veterinary and agricultural authorities deal with ticks from economic point of view. But from medical point of view, ticks have specific role in transmission of zoonotic infectious diseases as well as their saliva causes tick paralysis. When dealing with children from tick infested areas, tick paralysis should be considered in differential diagnosis of the clinically confused diseases as poliomyelitis, myasthenia gravis; Guillain-Barre; paralytic rabies botulism; transverse myelitis and /or the diphtheritic polyneuropathy. Tick-borne relapsing fever is a zoonosis and is endemic in many countries. The two main Borrelia spp. involved in
North America are B. hermsii (in the mountainous West) and B. turicatae (in the southwest). Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF), babesiosis and infantile tick paralysis were identified as emerging diseases disaster. Also, Lyme disease is the commonest worldwide and encountered in Egypt since a long time. And now what about other tick-borne diseases, taking into consideration the tick populations is endemic not only in Egypt but worldwide vectors.

Keywords

Journal of the Egyptian Society of Parasitology
Volume 46, Issue 2
August 2016
Pages 273-298

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