Survey of cases of tick-paralysis and the presence of the eastern paralysis tick, Ixodes holocyclus, and the southern paralysis tick, Ixodes cornuatus, in the Greater Melbourne Area.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that the paralysis ticks, Ixodes holocyclus and Ixodes cornuatus, are epizootic and/or enzootic in the Greater Melbourne Area (GMA).


METHODS
We examined the ticks in the museum collections of Australia, wrote to, phoned and visited veterinarians and other colleagues in the GMA to gather information about the cases of tick paralysis and to request the ticks for identification.


RESULTS
We present evidence of I. holocyclus at 24 postcodes and I. cornuatus at 28 postcodes in the GMA.


CONCLUSIONS
We found evidence that I. holocyclus is epizootic at four postcodes in the GMA: at East Melbourne, Williamstown, Moonee Ponds and Hoppers Crossing. We did not find evidence that I. holocyclus is enzootic in the GMA. I. cornuatus is apparently enzootic in the GMA at Bullengarook, Kinglake, Chum Creek and Healesville. Our hypothesis is that I. cornuatus is also enzootic at Mt Macedon, Gisborne and at other bushy postcodes in the GMA. Since this tick is apparently enzootic in the GMA, it may also be epizootic at postcodes adjacent to busy postcodes such as Bullengarook, Kinglake, Chum Creek and Healesville. The concept of hitch-hiker larvae, nymphs and adult female ticks may explain many of the cases of tick paralysis due to I. holocyclus in the GMA. The accurate assessment of the risk of tick paralysis in dogs and cats in the GMA requires a more detailed map of the distribution of I. holocyclus and I. cornuatus in Victoria.
['Barker|D|D|https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9431-8404', 'Barker|S C|SC|']
D000818:Animals D002371:Cat Diseases D002415:Cats D004283:Dog Diseases D004285:Dogs D005260:Female D018884:Ixodes D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires D013985:Tick Paralysis D014739:Victoria
tick dogs cats ectoparasites external parasites ixodidae