The transmission of Aegyptianella pullorum, Carpano, to fowls by means of ticks belonging to the genus Argas

Abstract

A. persicus is a transmitting agent of Aegyptianella pullorum to fowls. The disease was successfully transmitted to 9 healthy chickens by adult ticks which had previously fed on infected chickens. Moreover, the tick can retain its infection after feeding on a healthy bird, as one adult transmitted the disease twice to healthy chickens. The shortest interval between feeding on an infected bird and a healthy chicken was 26 days. The incubation period in chickens after an infected tick has bitten varies from 12 to 15 days or more. An infected adult A. persicus may remain infected for at least 162 days. A. pullorum is apparently not transmitted by either Argas moubata or A. perengueyi, as four adults of A. moubata and two or three adults of A. perengueyi failed to transmit the disease to healthy chickens after having fed on infected birds. Nymphs of A. moubata, whose mother had fed on an infected chicken likewise failed to transmit the disease to a healthy chicken. It is noteworthy that Spirochaeta anserina was never seen in any fowl in these experiments.