Molecular Detection and Phylogenetic Analysis of and Species in Ticks Collected from Migratory Birds at Heuksan, Hong, and Nan Islands, Republic of Korea

The extended distribution and potential introduction of exotic ticks and associated tick-borne pathogens along the northern and southern routes of migratory birds pose zoonotic tick-borne disease risks to wild and domestic animals and incidentally to humans. A knowledge of bird migratory patterns, species of attached ticks, and associated pathogens during their migrations to and from their feeding and nesting grounds is central to understanding associated tick-borne disease risks. Tick-borne disease surveillance was conducted from 2010 to 2011 and 2016 at Hong-do (do = island), Heuksan-do, and Nan-do, major stopovers for migratory birds in Republic of Korea (ROK), as part of the Migratory Birds Research Center bird-banding program for studying bird migration patterns in the ROK. A total of 877 ticks belonging to three genera and nine species were collected, (576, 65.7%), (134, 15.3%), (91, 10.4%), (56, 6.4%), (7, 0.8%), (6, 0.7%), (5, 0.6%), (1, 0.1%), and (1, 0.1%) were collected from 274 birds belonging to 20 genera and 41 species. A total of 15/380 pools (3.95%) were positive for species (14 pools of and 1 pool of ), while only 1/380 pools (0.26%) was positive for (1 pool of ). Our findings support the role of migratory birds as possible vectors for the introduction of tick-borne pathogens, which requires continuous monitoring for the potential introduction of ticks and their associated tick-borne pathogens.