Bibliographical studies on human cases of Hard Tick (Acarina: Ixodidae) bites in Japan (2) cases of Haemaphysalis longicornis and H. flava infestation *
This paper reviewed significant literature on human infestation with the hard tick, Haemaphysalis longicornis（Neumann, 1901）and H. flava（Neumann, 1897）occurring in Japan between 1943 and 2005, and between 1977 and 2005, respectively. A total of 101 patients（37 males, 49 females, 15 unknown）infested by H. longicornis, and 57 patients（14 males, 28 females, 15 unknown）infested by H. flava have been reported in the literature. The patients of both species were distributed widely in Japan except for Hokkaido and the southwest Islands. The highest incidence of cases was found in Okayama Prefecture（14.1％）in western Japan for H. longicornis, and in Fukuoka Prefecture（26.5％）in southern Japan for H. flava. For H. longicornis, the tick infestation of the reported cases occurred in the period from March to October, and the highest incidence was found in August（28.2％）. For H. flava, the tick infestation of the reported cases occurred in the period from January to December except for September, and the highest incidence was found in April（21.6％）. The age ranges of the H. longicornis and H. flava patients were from 1 to 88 and 1 to 90 years of age, respectively. The highest incidence of H. longicornis and H. flava was found in persons in the sixties （26.2％）, and in younger children under the age of nine（42.9％）. For H. longicornis and H. flava, the most common infestation site of the patients was on the thigh（15.4％）, in the ear canal（12.1％）, and the vertex（18.2％）, and head（15.9％）. For both species, the most common infestation site of the patients was on the skin of the head and neck regions（37.4％ and 54.5％）, with H. flava especially having a tendency to select the head. For both species, the tick bites in the majority of the cases were principally acquired in mountainous areas. (Accepted on February 26，2008)
