Argas persicus are vectors for Avian Spirochetosis as they carry the causative agent Borellia anserina. These soft ticks spend most of their time hidden in tight spaces (ex. crevices of buildings or caves) close to their hosts- various types of birds including turkey and chickens. Commercial hens are kept in suspended cages (Walker) they do not come in contact with substrate where soft ticks develop (the engorged female tick lays eggs on the ground, still commonly in cracks and crevices). Thus as the cages have no contact with the ground and provide fewer crevices for older A. persicus to hide in there are limited opportunities for the tick to provide a threat to commercial poultry. Commercial hens are also commonly separated into multiple flocks, so those with the same age and breed are in close proximity to one another (Walker). This further limits the
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Having a growing amount of readily available hosts has led to population blooms of A. persicus. This has led to a greater wealth of resources which could lead to new adaptions in the form of adaptive radiation- in which “organisms diversify rapidly from an ancestral species into a multitude of new forms, particularly when a change in the environment makes new resources available” (Biology).
Whereas before the poultry industry had a herd-immunity like system, A. persicus can now take advantage of unmonitored free roaming poultry to gain adaptations. These adaptations could make A. persicus more resilient to classic tickicides and Borellia anserina- the aforementioned causative agent of Avian Spirochetosis- itself to become more dangerous. An example of the commonness of ectoparasites in ‘back yard birds’- and A. persicus in particular- is a 2012-2013 study taken place west of Iran. “Of the total of 600 free-range backyard chickens” (Rezai) “78.66 %”(Rezai) of them were infested with Argas
Having a growing amount of readily available hosts has led to population blooms of A. persicus. This has led to a greater wealth of resources which could lead to new adaptions in the form of adaptive radiation- in which “organisms diversify rapidly from an ancestral species into a multitude of new forms, particularly when a change in the environment makes new resources available” (Biology).
Whereas before the poultry industry had a herd-immunity like system, A. persicus can now take advantage of unmonitored free roaming poultry to gain adaptations. These adaptations could make A. persicus more resilient to classic tickicides and Borellia anserina- the aforementioned causative agent of Avian Spirochetosis- itself to become more dangerous. An example of the commonness of ectoparasites in ‘back yard birds’- and A. persicus in particular- is a 2012-2013 study taken place west of Iran. “Of the total of 600 free-range backyard chickens” (Rezai) “78.66 %”(Rezai) of them were infested with Argas