Case Study of Hard Tick (Acarina: Ixodidae) Bites Infested Abroad and Found in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan
Two human cases infested abroad with hard ticks and found in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan are reported. Case 1 : On June 25, 1991, the hard tick bite was found on the skin surface of left thigh region of a 59-year-old man living in Fuchu City, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The patient had visited Yuzhino-Sakhalinsk (South Sakhalin), Russia from June 16 to 22, 1991. The tick body removed from the patient measured 5.3 mm in length and 3.7 mm in maximum width. On acarological observation, the tick was identified as an adult female of Ixodes persulcatus Schulze, 1930 based on morphological characteristics of capitulum, scutum, coxae, internal and external spurs and spiracular plates. Case 2 : On March 17, 1993, the hard tick bite was found on the skin surface of right abdominal region of a 51 - year-old man residing in Hiroshima City, Japan. The patient had visited Sri Lanka from March 4 to 11, 1993. The collected tick body from the patient measured 8.0 mm in length and 6.0 mm in maximum width including capitulum. The tick was identified as an adult female of Amblyomma sp. The tick bites were thought to have been occurred in forest (Case 1) and in hilly land (Case 2) respectively, and none of systemic symptoms other than tick bite wounds was recognized. To our best knowledge, the present report deals with 10th and 11th findings of human case of hard tick bite infested abroad and found in Japan.
