Avian Paralysis Caused by brunneus in the Southeastern United States

Authors: Luttrell, M. P., Creekmore, L. H., and Mertins, J. W. Source: Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 32(1) : 133-136 Published By: Wildlife Disease Association URL: https://doi.org/10.7589/0090-3558-32.1.133

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Avian Tick Paralysis Caused by Ixodes brunneus in the Southeastern United States

M. P. Luttrell, L. H. Creekmore,’3 and J. W. Mertlns,2 Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, College of Veterinary Medicine, The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA; 2 U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Plant Health Inspection Service, Veterinary Services, National Veterinary Services Lab- oratories, 1800 Dayton Road, Ames, Iowa 50010, USA; Current address, National Biological Service, National Wildlife Health Center, 6006 Schroeder Road, Madison, Wisconsin 53711, USA.

ABSTRACI’: Between 1988 and 1994, 16 (lefin- 1962; Sonenshine and Stout, 1970). Bish- itive and 26 presuniptive cases of tick paralysis opp and Treniley ( 1945) found that the were (liagnosed in 10 species of from five adult female remain attached on their southeastern states in the USA. All l)irds had engorged d(IllIt feniale Ixo(/e.s /)nsnneu.s ticks on avian hosts for long periods of time. Males the head region and were partiall paralyzed or have never been found in nature but have (lea(l. Cases occurred in the winter and early been successfully raised under laboratory spring I114)I1ths, amil niost birds were I)asserines conditions (Anastos and Smith, 1957). Ixo- found ill l)riate yards or near feeders. All des brunneus bias been re1)Orted from 22 stages of 1. I)rUnHeus feed exclusively on birds, Ul(l this Species previously has been associated states, primarily in coastal regions and in with mPs’IC.SII tick paralysis. Little is known con- the Midwest (Keirans aiid Clifford, 1978; cerning the life cycle of this ixodid tick and its Brillhart and McKown, 1991). iI111)dct OH wild populations. A definitive diagnosis of tick paralysis Kt’y words’: Ixode.s’ brunneu.s’, , tick can be based only on draniatic clinical im- pC.trmtlSis, Passeriformes. provement and recovery of the host, usu- Tick ictrtlysis is a disease caused by ally within 24 to 72 hr following removal neurotoxins associated with 60 species of of the tick (Oliver and Lorenz, 1993). Un- hard ark! soft ticks in 10 genera (Gothe fortunately, such confirmation is difficult aI1(l Neitz, 1991 ). It occurs worldwide in in wild birds because the condition usually liiiiiiaiis, doiuestic annuals, and many wild is not noticed until the bird is found dead. mammals and birds (Gregson, 1973). Gen- In these instances, a presumptive diagnosis erally, the disease is considered a motor of tick paralysis can be based on the pres- )olvneuropathy characterized by a pro- ence of a species of tick known to cause gressive, ascending flaccid motor paralysis. paralysis combined with the absence of cv- Clinical signs include ataxia, pa- idence of any other disease problems. ralysis, areflexia, hyotonus, and respira- We report a series of cases of avian tick tory failure (Oliver and Lorenz, 1993). The paralysis with a characteristic pattern over toxin seems to l)e associated with the fe- a 6-yr period. From 1988 through 1994, male tick’s salivary glands and probably is 44 birds with obvious tick infestations secreted (luring feeding (Gregson, 1973). were submitted to the Southeastern Co-

IXO(/(.S /)flL7i?3(ljS has been associated operative Wildlife Disease Study (SCWDS; with tick paralysis in wild l)irds (Bishopp College of Veterinary Medicine, The Uni- aII(i Tren1bley, 1945; Gregson, 1973; versity of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA). Schwab, 1987). All three stages of I. brun- Species submitted included Zenaida ,i,a-

fl(’liS feed exclusively on l)irds (Keirans and croura, Cyanocitta cristata, Sialis .sialis, Litwak, 1989), particularly passerines and Bombycilla cedroru in, Tn rdus migratorius, ground-feeding species; 64 species of birds Agelaius phOefl iceus, Jis rico hyemalis, Car- have l)eefl reported as hosts for this tick duelis tristis, Carpodacus mexican us, C. (Boyd, 1951). Adult females are found on purpureus, and 1 unidentified sparrow adult l)mrds primarily in the colder months These included 16 partially paralyzed birds of the year, with larvae and nymphs occa- and 28 dead birds (Table 1). Birds were sionally preseit at the same time (Nibley, submitted from the following areas of the

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TABLE 1 . Definitive and presumptive cases of avian tick paralysis reported to the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife I)isease Stud The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, 1988 through 1994.

Species Number Year State

l)efinitive Cases

Bombycilla cedroruin 1 1988 Georgia Carpodacus p11’ptLret1 1 1991 Arkansas C. mexicanu.s 14 1991 Georgia

Presumptive Cases Sialis sialis 1 1988 Georgia 1 1988 Tennessee B. c(’dror’um 2 1988 Georgia Cyanocitta cri.s’tata 1 1988 Georgia Unidentified sparrow 1 1990 Georgia C. purpureus 1 1994 Virginia C. mexicanus 4 1990 North Carolina 4 1991 Georgia 1 1994 Georgia 1 1994 North Carolina 2 1994 Virginia Carduclis tristi.s’ 1 1991 Georgia Agelaius phoeniceu.s’ 2 1991 Georgia Junco hyemalis 2 1991 Georgia 1 1991 Arkansas Lenaida inacroura 1 1993 Georgia

USA: Faulkner (35#{176}15’N, 92#{176}20’W) and the head or neck, and six birds specifically Saline (34#{176}35’N, 92#{176}45’\V) Counties, Ar- had ticks attached around their eyes. All kansas; Clarke (33#{176}58’N, 83#{176}20’W), For- ticks were identified as adult female I.

syth (34#{176}20‘ N , 84#{176}15 ‘W), Gordon brunneus based on the taxonomic criteria (34#{176}30’N, 84#{176}50’W), Gwinnett (34#{176}OO’N, outlined by Cooley and Kohls (1945), 84#{176}OO’W), Madison (34#{176}1O’N, 83#{176}15’W), Keirans and Clifford (1978), and Keirans

M urray (34#{176}50 ‘ N , 84#{176}50’W), Oconee and Litwak (1989). (33#{176}50’N, 83#{176}20’W), Stephens (34#{176}30’N, Sixteen paralyzed birds recovered suffi-

83#{176}20’W), Walton (33#{176}45‘ N , 83#{176}45’W), ciently for release after their ticks were re- and White (34#{176}40’N, 83#{176}50’W) Counties, moved. A definitive diagnosis of tick pa- Georgia; Davie (35#{176}55’N, 8O#{176}40’W), Gui!- ralysis was made for these birds. Twenty-

ford (36#{176}1O’N , 79#{176}50’W), Iredell (35#{176}55’N, eight dead birds submitted for necropsy 80#{176}45’W), Wake (35#{176}40’N, 78#{176}50’W), and were determined by gross examination to Wilkes (36#{176}20’N , 8 1#{176}1O’W) Counties, be in fair to good physical condition. Gross North Carolina; Wealdey County (36#{176}30’N, lesions were limited to subcutaneous hem- 88#{176}50’W), Tennessee; and Chesterfield orrhage and edema at the tick attachment

(37#{176}50 ‘ N , 77#{176}35‘W) and Gooch!and sites. Histopathologic examination of tis- (37#{176}45’N, 78#{176}OO’W) Counties, Virginia. sues was performed on 18 birds, with no Typically, single birds or small groups of significant lesions observed. Cultures of two to four birds were reported; several liver tissue for Salmonella spp. were done cases involved larger groups of passerines as described by Matbinson and Snoeyenbos found dead or paralyzed. Three submitted (1989) for 10 birds found under feeders; birds died in captivity after ticks were re- all cultures were negative. Brain cholin- moved. Individuals commonly had one to esterase activity bevels (Hill, 1988) were two attached ticks; however, several had six measured in four additional cases, and all to 14 ticks. Ticks always were attached to were normal. Two birds were part of a

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group that had been exposed to diazinon, there may be secondary mortality factors and organophosphate toxicosis was diag- involved such as accidents or predation. In nosed as the cause of death in these birds addition to potential paralysis, ticks also (SCWDS, unpublished case report). Pre- may cause physical impairment from their sumptive diagnoses of tick paralysis due to attachment over the eyes (Thomas, 1941) I. brunneus were made on the remaining or anemia due to blood loss (Boyd, 1951). 26 birds. Tick paralysis may be influenced by The submission of cases was strongly many different host- and tick-dependent seasonal, with most occurring during the factors, such as host immunity or sensitiv- cooler months of the year (November ity, tick toxin virulence, or tick population through April). This seasonality coincided dynamics (Gregson, 1973; Gothe and with previously reported occurrences of Neitz, 1991). Environmental factors such adult I. brunneus on birds (Nibley, 1962; as meteorological fluctuations also may Sonenshine and Stout, 1970). Because tick play a role. These variables, which may in- paralysis is usually associated with parasit- teract to influence seasonal occurrence, isiTi by adult female ticks (Gregson, 1973), geographic distribution, and severity of the seasonality observed may be related to disease, are unknown for I. brunneus and the phenology of I. brunneus. should be the focus of future research on Prior to 1988, only one instance of tick avian paralysis caused by this tick. paralysis had been diagnosed at SCWDS This study was prepared through spon- in 21 yr of clinical case accessions, and the sorship from the fish and wildlife agencies diagnosis was presumptive. The recent of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, cases of avian tick paralysis over the past Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississip- six years may reflect either an actual in- pi, Missouri, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, crease in the occurrence of this disease or South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and a broadened awareness of it. All cases West Virginia. Funds were provided by the were reported by bird watchers, bird ban- Federal Aid to Wildlife Restoration Act ders, or wildlife biologists, and most af- (50 Stat. 917) and through Grant Agree- fected birds were passerines found in as- ment 14-45-0009-94-906, National Biobog- sociation with residential bird feeders. ical Survey, U.S. Department of the Inte- Feeders concentrate birds artificially so rior. that disease problems either may be cx- acerbated by increased densities of birds LITERATURE CITED

or simply may be more noticeable (Brit- ANASTOS, C., AND C. N. SMITH. 1957. The male, tingham and Temple, 1986). Due to many nymph, and larva of Ixodes brunneus Koch (Ac- unknown factors that influence case sub- ama: Ixodidae). The Journal of Parasitology 43: missions and unknown characteristics of 535-541. BISHOPP, F. C., AND H. L. TREMBLEY. 1945. 1)istri- the I. brunneus life cycle, actual variations butmon and hosts ofcertamn North American ticks. in incidence cannot be confirmed with the The Journal of Parasitology 31: 1-54. current data. BOYD, E. M. 1951. The external parasites of birds: Although there have been occasional A review. The Wilson Bulletin 63: 363-.369. BRILLHART, D. B., AND R. D. MCKOWN. 1991. First ports of tick paralysis in birds caused by I. record of Ixodes brunneus in Kansas. Journal of brunneus, the epizootiology of the disease Wildlife Diseases 27: 727. has not been investigated. The impact on BRITFINGHAM, M. C., AND S. A. TEMPLE. 1986. A wild bird populations is difficult to assess, survey of avian mortality at winter feeders. Wild- but it is possible that avian tick paralysis life Society Bulletin 14: 445-450. may contribute to songbird mortality in C00LEY, R. A., AND G. M. K0HLS. 1945. The genus Ixodes in North America. Bulletin No. 184, Na- some regions during the winter months. tional Institutes of Health, Washington D.C., 246 Affected birds are likely to die unnoticed, pp. and our case histories are evidence that GOTHE, R., AND A. W. H. NEITZ. 1991. Tick paral-

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