INFLUENCE OF AGRICULTURAL METHODS ON OCCURRENCE OF THE TICK HYALOMMA MARGINATUM MARGINATUM KOCH. IN REGIONS OF SHELTER BELT PLANTINGS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
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• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 27, 2011
• Sequence Number: 954
• Publication Date: February 20, 1951
• Content Type: REPORT

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Scientific - Medicine, endemic infectious
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Biweekly periodical
hjo s COW
Aug 1950
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SOURCE Zoologicheskiy Zhurnal, Vol XXIX, No 4, 1950, pp 297-300.
INFLUENCE OF AGRICULTURAL METHODS ON OCCURRENCE
OF THE TICK HYALOMMA MARGINATUM MARGINATUM KOCH. IN
REGIONS OF SHELTER BELT PLANTINGS
This paper is a contribution from the Department of Parasitology and Medi-
cal Zoology (Managing Director Academician Ye. N. Pavlovskiy)?of the Institute
of Epidemiology and Microbiology imeni Honorary Academician N. E. Gamaleya (Di-
rector V. D, Timakov), Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR.
Cultivation of the steppe ..isturbs the biological balance of wild life in-
habiting the region. The changes brought about in this manner affect hosts har-
boring transmitters of infectious diseases. The activity of transmitters of en-
demic tick born diseases such as'Omek hemmorhagic fever and rickettsiosis is in-
fluenced by the introduction of modern agricultural methods.
From this point of view, the investigations carried out by Fedyushin (6) in
the wooded steppe region of the Omsk oblast are of considerable interest. He
studied the effect which methods of grass planting have on the frequency of oc-
currence of the ticks Dermacentor pictus Herm., and Derm-center marginatus Sulz.,
of which the first is known as a transmitter of Omsk hemmorhagic fever (7) and the
second of a rickettsiosis occurring in the Altay region.
By carrying out observations, over a period of 2 years, uii the number cif
ticks occurring on virgin soil and on planted pastures, Fedyushin established that
introduction of planted grassland and feed crop rotation tends t6 reduce the num-
ber of ticks and of natural hosts harboring them. This is due not only to the
mechanical effect on satiated stages of the tick lying in the soil, but also to
the fact that periodic plowing changes the microclimate, thus affecting unfavor-
ably the changes. of the tick's survival during the winter. -Planted pastures have
an unfavorable effect on ticks even at the very end of the period of normal eco-
nomic utilization (i.e., at the expiration of 5 years) with the result that the
:.:.ck population foundon'them is less numerous than on natural pastures.
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Data referring to the Southern Ukraine (1) shows that the number of spe-
cies and the tent of the population of animals and birds are -much higher on
re-,er,?sticns, is:tures, and land which has lain fallow for 7-8 years as com-
pa.re,i -ith land occupied by grain crops. In view of the fact that birds and an-
im ..rbcr ticks, this finding is of importance.
ur ul:ie5 refer to the tick Hyalomma marginatum marginatum Koch. (trans-
mit-er of i;,,?ar_an hemmorhagic fever) which inhabits the steppes of the Krasnodar
territc., we first investigated a 19,000-hectare farm planted under grain and
havin_; a tail; network of forest shelter belts 13 to 15 years old. The forest
shelter h^:its were more than 6 meters wide had interlocking tree crowns, and
were de?-ioid of grass growth. Fallow land, and natural and old pastures were ab-
sent.
Expiation of 143 cows on this farm and in the vicinity showed a very low
occurrence of H. m,, marginatum, which is the typical representative of Ixodes
ticks in that region, flares and birds (this includes domestic fowl) nesting on
the soil and feeding in the grass are known to be hosts harboring pupae and lar-
vae of this two-host species (4). The number of winter hares was found to be
much reduced in this area, and a specimen which had been shot was found to be
free of ticks. Among 71 specimens of birds (18 species) no infestation with ticks
was found.
?or purposes of comparison, a steppe region 90-100 km distant from the first
location was investigated. This region had many stretches of fallow land and old
pastures. Artificial forest plantings were weakly represented, and those which
existed had thinned out and were encroached upon by the steppe. Examination of
90 cows disclosed that they had twice the number of ticks found on cows in the
original location, Twenty one specimens of birds were examined and infestation
with up to 45 ticks per single bird was found in the case of larks; 21.3% of the
birds were infested, and the average number of ticks per bird was 20.
On the basis of these results, it appears that the planting of forest shelter
belts would tend to check a significant increase-in the number of H. m. marginatum.
The number of winter hares is reduced by such plantings due to the lack of grass
coyer in the forests, and this also applies to steppe birds which seek their food
in the grass. The latter would be replaced by forest birds. As has been mentioned
above, winter hares and steppe birds function as hosts and transmitters of the
ticks.
1. I. D. Ivcuenko, On the Question of Changes in the Steppe Fauna Under the
Influence of Agriculture, Zoologicheskiy Zhurnal, Vol XVII, No 5, 1938.
2. S. M. Kulagin, I. N. Alfeyev, and 0. S. Korshunova, A Discovered Focus of
Tick Typhus in the Altay Region, Novosti Meditsiny, No 5, 1947-
3. Ye. N. Pavlovskiy, Scientific Aid Given by Zoologists and Parasitologists in
the Planting of Forest Shelter Belts, Zoologicheskiy Zhurnal, Vol XXVIII,
No 2. 1949.
4. S. P. Piontkovskaya, Data on the Biology and Ecology of the Tick H. M. Mar-
ginatum Koch. in toe Northwestern Natural Focus of Crimean Ifemmorhagic Fever,
Novosti Meditsiny, No 5, 1947.
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6. A V. Fedyush.in, The Part Played by the Grass Field System of Agriculture
Di
s-
in the Fight Against Pasture Ticks and Tick-Born Human and Veterinary
eases, Zoologicheskiy Zhurnal, Vol XXVIII, No 6, 1949.
M. P. Chumakov, Subjects of Reports Presented at the Fourth Scientific Ses-
sion of the Institute of Neurology, Academy of Medical Sciences USSR, 1949.
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