Further Case Studies of Human Infestation with Hard Tick (Acarina: Ixodidae) Found in Okayama, Japan
Six new cases of human infestation with hard tick (a 58-year-old man, a 85-year-old woman, a 54-year-old woman, a 74-year-old woman, a 68-year-old woman and a 76-year-old man) from Okayama Prefecture are further reported. The tick bites were found on the skin surface of left upper eyelid (Case 1), neck region (Cases 2 and 5), right abdomen (Case 3), left rump (Case 4) and left thorax (Case 6). On acarological observation, the removed ticks were identified as Ixodes ovatus Neumann, 1899 at nymphal stage (Case 1), the adult female of Haemaphysalis flava Neumann, 1897 (Case 2), Ixodes nipponensis Kitaoka and Saito, 1967 (Cases 3 and 6), H. flava (Case 4) and I. ovatus (Case 5) based on morphology of capitulum (hypostome and palps), internal and external spurs on coxae, spiracular plates and genital aperture. The tick bites have been occurred on hilly area (Cases 1 and 3), on farm garden (Case 2), and on grassy plain (Cases 5 and 6). The location of bite acquisition of Case 4 is not reported. To our best knowledge, the present report deals with 14th to 19th findings of human infestation with hard tick in Okayama Prefecture, Japan.
