Accidental ingestion of ticks found in the intestinal contents of hunted wild animals from the Brazilian Amazon

Vasconcelos V.S.; Costa E.N.; Oliveira A.L.M.; Silva M.I.A.; Silva T.L.; Lima-De-Souza J.R.; Cárdenas-Callirgos J.M.; Pacheco R.C.; Ramos D.G.S.; Martins T.F. · Brazilian Journal of Biology (2026) · DOI: 10.1590/1519-6984.307314

Resumen

Generally, literature records of ticks parasitizing wild animals focus on observations made on their primary hosts, with only sporadic and often incidental reports of these ectoparasites occurring within internal organs or associated structures. In the present study, we document the presence of at least four species of ticks of the genus Amblyomma (A. humerale, A. naponense, A. nodosum, and A. pacae) recovered from the viscera of two host species, Cuniculus paca and Chelonoidis denticulatus, in the Brazilian Amazon. The detection of these ticks within visceral contents suggests previously unrecognized interactions between these arthropods and their hosts, potentially resulting from accidental ingestion or other ecological processes not yet fully understood. Additionally, two other sampled host species, Tayassu pecari and Dasyprocta fuliginosa, tested negative for tick presence in their intestinal tracts. Taken together, our findings expand the current knowledge of tick–host associations and provide novel evidence of ticks occurring in the viscera of vertebrate hosts within the Amazon biome, highlighting the need for further investigations into the mechanisms underlying these unusual occurrences.

Instituciones: Universidad Ricardo Palma