Additional report on human cases of infestation with the Hard Tick, Ixodes ovatus (Acarina: Ixodidae) in Japan – a bibliographical review – *
This paper reiewed significant literature on human infestation with the hard tick, Ixodes oatus（Neumann, 1899）occurring in Japan between Sept. 1997 and Sept. 2005. A total of 40 patients（15 male, 11 female, 14 unknown）, including three patients added to a preious paper（Hatsushika, 1998）, hae been reported in the literature. The patients were distributed widely in Japan, although the highest incidence of cases was found in Shizuoka Prefecture（27.5％）in central Japan. The tick infestation of the reported cases most frequently occurred in the summer period of May to August, and the highest incidence was found in May（37.5％）. The age range of the patients was from 1 to 74 years of age, and the highest incidence was found in younger children under the age of nine（30.8％）. The most common infestation site of the patients was on the skin of the head and neck region（92.3％）, particularly around the eyes（upper and lower eyelids, 61.5％）. The tick bites in the majority of the cases were principally acquired in mountainous areas. In the past 216 cases of I. oatus infestation were reported by Hatsushika（1998）. Therefore, the sum total of human cases infested with I. oatus in Japan is 256 up to 2005. The patients among these 256 cases were also described in detail. (Accepted on October ６，2006)
