The blood-feeding behavior of ticks has resulted in them becoming one of the most important vectors of disease-causing pathogens. Ticks possess a well-developed innate immune system to counter invading pathogens. However, the coevolution of ticks with tick-borne pathogens has adapted these pathogens to the tick\'s physiology and immune response through several mechanisms including transcriptional regulation. The recent development in tick and tick-borne disease research greatly involved the \"omics\" approach. The omics approach takes a look en masse at the different genes, proteins, metabolomes, and the microbiome of the ticks that could be differentiated during pathogen infection. Data from this approach revealed that oxidative stress-related molecules in ticks are differentiated and possibly being exploited by the pathogens to evade the tick\'s immune response. In this study, we review and discuss transcriptomic and proteomic data for some oxidative stress molecules differentially expressed during pathogen infection. We also discuss metabolomics and microbiome data as well as functional genomics in order to provide insight into the tick-pathogen interaction.

Babesiosis is a tick-transmitted intraerythrocytic zoonosis. In Korea, the first mortalities were reported in 2005 due to Babesia sp. detection in sheep; herein we report epidemiological and genetic characteristics of a second case of babesiosis. Microscopic analysis of patient blood revealed polymorphic merozoites. To detect Babesia spp., PCR was performed using Babesia specific primers for β-tubulin, 18S rDNA, COB, and COX3 gene fragments. 18S rDNA analysis for Babesia sp., showed 98% homology with ovine Babesia sp. and with Babesia infections in Korea in 2005. Moreover, phylogenetic analysis of 18S rDNA, COB, and COX3 revealed close associations with B. motasi. For identifying the infectious agent, Haemaphysalis longicornis (296) and Haemaphysalis flava (301) were collected around the previous residence of the babesiosis patient. Babesia genes were identified in three H. longicornis: one sample was identified as B. microti and two samples were 98% homologous to B. motasi. Our study is the first direct confirmation of the infectious agent for human babesiosis. This case most likely resulted from tick bites from ticks near the patient house of the babesiosis patient. H. longicornis has been implicated as a vector of B. microti and other Babesia sp. infections.

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging tick-borne disease. Haemophysalis longicornis ticks have been considered the vector of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV). However, clear data on the transmission of SFTS from ticks to humans are limited.
We report an 84-year-old woman who presented with fever and altered mentality, which was confirmed as SFTS with encephalopathy by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction in blood and cerebrospinal fluid. The SFTSV was also identified in the tick that bit her, H. longicornis. Phylogenetic analyses indicated that the SFTSV from the patient and the tick was identical. The patient gradually recovered with treatments of corticosteroids and immunoglobulin.
These findings provide further evidence of SFTS viral transmission from H. longicornis to human.

We report the importation into Connecticut, U.S.A., of an exotic tick, Hyalomma truncatum (Koch) (Acari: Ixodidae), on a human with recent travel history to Africa. The tick was identified using key morphological characters and through DNA sequencing. This case report highlights continuing risk associated with the importation of exotic tick vectors of medical and veterinary significance on international travelers returning to the United States from abroad.

Bourbon virus (Family Orthomyxoviridae: Genus Thogotovirus) was first isolated from a human case-patient residing in Bourbon County, Kansas, who subsequently died. Before becoming ill in late spring of 2014, the patient reported several tick bites. In response, we initiated tick surveillance in Bourbon County and adjacent southern Linn County during spring and summer of 2015. We collected 20,639 host-seeking ticks representing four species from 12 sites. Amblyomma americanum (L.) (Acari: Ixodidae) and Dermacentor variabilis (Say) (Acari: Ixodidae) accounted for nearly all ticks collected (99.99%). Three tick pools, all composed of adult A. americanum ticks collected in Bourbon County, were virus positive. Two pools were Heartland virus (Family Bunyaviridae: Genus Phlebovirus) positive, and one was Bourbon virus positive. The Bourbon virus positive tick pool was composed of five adult females collected on a private recreational property on June 5. Detection of Bourbon virus in the abundant and aggressive human-biting tick A. americanum in Bourbon County supports the contention that A. americanum is a vector of Bourbon virus to humans. The current data combined with virus detections in Missouri suggest that Bourbon virus is transmitted to humans by A. americanum ticks, including both the nymphal and adult stages, that ticks of this species become infected as either larvae, nymphs or both, perhaps by feeding on viremic vertebrate hosts, by cofeeding with infected ticks, or both, and that Bourbon virus is transstadially transmitted. Multiple detections of Heartland virus and Bourbon virus in A. americanum ticks suggest that these viruses share important components of their transmission cycles.

Colorado tick fever virus is transmitted by Dermacentor andersoni ticks. In Canada, these ticks are found in the southern regions of British Columbia (Rocky Mountains) and Alberta, as well as southwestern Saskatchewan. Colorado tick fever should be clinically suspected in patients presenting with a biphasic febrile illness and leukopenia following tick exposure in the appropriate geographic area.

Spotted fever group rickettsioses are transmitted by several types of arthropods (including ticks, chiggers, fleas, and lice) and are distributed worldwide. Japanese spotted fever (JSF) was discovered as an emerging rickettsiosis in 1984. The annual number of cases has increased 3-fold during the last decade. In Japan, JSF has been mainly reported in an area with warm climate that borders the Pacific Ocean. We describe a family/neighborhood cluster of three cases of JSF in an area of Japan that had previously not been considered endemic.

Tick-borne relapsing fever is an endemic disease in Iran, with most cases attributed to infection by Borrelia persica, which is transmitted by Ornithodoros tholozani soft ticks. Here, we report spirochetemia in blood of a puppy residing in Tehran, Iran. The causative species was identified by use of highly discriminative IGS sequencing; the 489 bp IGS sequence obtained in our study showed 99% identity (100% coverage) when compared with B. persica sequences derived from clinical cases or from O. tholozani ticks. Our IGS sequence also showed 99% similarity over 414 bp (85% coverage) with a strain from a domestic dog, and 96% over 328 bp (69% coverage) with a strain from a domestic cat. Pet-keeping in cosmopolitan cities like Tehran has become increasingly popular in recent years. Animals are often transported into the city in cages or cardboard boxes that might also harbor minute tick larvae and/or early stages of the nymphs bringing them into the urban environment. This may pose a threat to household members who buy and keep these puppies and as a result may come into close contact with infected ticks.

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Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a viral hemorrhagic disease with high mortality rate. CCHF is endemic in Central Anatolia and East and Central Black Sea parts of Turkey, however sporadic cases have been detected in the other regions. The incubation period of the disease is between 1-3 days (maximum 12 days). In this report, a very rare CCHF case with a long incubation period of 30 days, was reported. A 40-year-old female patient living in a village of Kocaeli, Turkey was admitted to a health center in June 2010 with the complaints of headache, myalgia, nausea, vomiting, fatigue and fever. Since laboratory results revealed severe thrombocytopenia (18.300/mm3), the patient was referred to the university hospital in Kocaeli. It was learned from her history that she had been working in the garden and removed a tick from the skin of gluteal area a month ago without seeking any medical help. Physical examination of the patient revealed that her general condition was well, oriented and cooperative, body temperature was 36.6°C, pulse 82/minute, trombocyte count 69.400/mm3 and liver enzymes were elevated (ALT: 194 U/L, AST: 499 U/L, GGT: 384 U/L, LDH: 1290 U/L). Petecchial lesions were seen on hard palate and extremities and a hyperemic lesion was detected at the gluteal area where the tick had attached. In-house real-time polymerase chain reaction test for CCHF, performed at Refik Saydam National Public Health Agency, Virology Reference and Research Laboratory, revealed positive result. This case was presented to withdraw attention to a long incubation period CCHF and also of its epidemiological importance since it was the first case in Kocaeli province, Turkey.