Professor Texas A&M University College Station, Texas
Triatomines and soft ticks are neglected vectors in the southern US that transmit the agents of Chagas disease and relapsing fever, respectively. These vectors feed on diverse vertebrate hosts which play variable roles as pathogen reservoirs, and knowledge of vector-host associations could be useful for vector-borne disease control. Further, the threat of African swine fever virus emergence in nonendemic regions underscores the importance of tick-host interactions. We used Illumina MiSeq amplicon deep sequencing to identify a ~145-300 bp region of the vertebrate cytB or 12S rRNA genes within triatomines and soft ticks. Within a set of 36 Triatoma gerstaeckeri and T. sanguisuga submitted to our kissing bug community science program, we detected opportunistic feeding behavior across 16 host taxa and up to 4 hosts/insect, in which humans and dogs were dominant, with additional hosts including domestic animals (chickens, cats, sheep, goats, cow) and wildlife species (rats, squirrels, deer, toads). The insects submitted from a zoo were found to have fed on tiger, monkey and tortoise. Within a set of 168 Ornithodoros turicata collected from caves in south Texas, we detected hosts in 117 (69.6%), revealing 26 host taxa and up to 6 hosts/tick. Frequently detected hosts included humans, raccoons, porcupine, and collared peccary. Swine (Sus scrofa) DNA found in 3 ticks (2.7%) is evidence of ecological interactions that may support the transmission of African swine fever virus. Enhanced understanding of vector-host-parasite networks may allow for integrated vector management programs to target highly-utilized and infected host species.
