Impact of climate factors on the seasonal activity of ticks and temporal dynamics of tick-borne pathogens in an area with a large tick species diversity in Slovakia, Central Europe

Ticks are ectoparasitic arthropods of great medical and veterinary importance and are important vectors of several pathogens that affect livestock, humans, and pets. Nevertheless, the requirements of individual tick species for climatic factors for tick survival and seasonality and the temporal dynamics of tick-borne pathogens have still not been sufficiently explored, especially in areas with the simultaneous occurrence of several tick species. When the occurrence and ecology of a single tick species are studied at the model site, all the factors which determine their occurrence must be taken into account during the study. Research at the site with the sympatric occurrence of different tick species eliminates the need to study all other factors (biotic and abiotic) that affect the occurrence of a given species in a particular locality because these species are present at the same site under the same environmental conditions. These locations are therefore highly appropriate for the research of seasonal activity that is related to climatic factors. As the host range of tick species overlaps at these locations, this is highly useful also for studying pathogen flow between individual tick species. In the present study, we evaluated the influence of the most important climatic conditions, such as temperature, relative humidity, and saturation deficit for each tick species individually. Except for the coldest parts of the year, we observed a year-round occurrence of individual tick species, with species-specific differences in temporal distribution. Ixodes ricinus was the most common species, followed by Haemaphysalis inermis, Dermacentor marginatus and D. reticulatus . Altogether, 660 ticks were examined for the presence of zoonotic bacteria and protozoans. The widest spectrum of tick-borne pathogens was detected in I. ricinus . The highest was the prevalence of spirochetes from Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. complex (12.43 %), with a predominance of B. garinii and B. afzelii , followed by Babesia spp. (7.73 %) represented by B. microti and B. venatorum . Anaplasma phagocytophilum was confirmed in 2.76 % of tested ticks. The presence of co-infection with Borrelia spp. and Babesia spp. was recorded in I. ricinus (1.1 %). We also confirmed the presence of borreliae in D. reticulatus and H. inermis for the first time in Slovakia. The results confirm that I. ricinus is epidemiologically the most important tick species in Slovakia and Central Europe.