As part of their nationwide research, the Climate Change: New Blood-Sucking Parasites and Vector-Borne Pathogens Research Group established by the Eötvös Loránd Research Network (ELKH) and the University of Veterinary Medicine (ÁTE), led by Dr. Gergő Keve and Professor Sándor Hornok, investigated the territorial distribution of tick parasites on birds. They identified a total of ten immature specimens of the Hyalomma rufipes species, which is common in Africa, on individuals of the Spotted Crake and the Eurasian Penduline Tit, a bird species chosen as the "bird of the year" in Hungary in 2022, in the western region of Lake Balaton. Since these bird species do not migrate during their breeding period, and one of the ticks removed from them was a larva in the early stage of blood-sucking, with three maternally inherited gene sequences identical in all ten ticks, it can be concluded that they originate from a local population and probably belong to the same genetic lineage. The young larva and the close genetic relationship also indicate that the discovered population is capable of reproducing in Hungary. The publication presenting the results was published in the scientific journal Frontiers in Veterinary Science.
The research was supported by ornithologists from the Hungarian Ornithological and Nature Conservation Society (MME), who removed nearly a thousand ticks from 540 captured birds during a ringing operation in 2022. Among the samples from the Transdanubia region, they identified specimens of the Hyalomma rufipes species, which is particularly dangerous, primarily found in Central and South Africa, but has settled in smaller areas of North Africa as well.
A specimen of Hyalomma rufipes collected in Hungary in 2011
At one of the bird migration study sites in the reed beds of the western region of Lake Balaton, a total of ten immature H. rufipes specimens were found on five individuals of the Spotted Crake and Eurasian Penduline Tit on the same day. The local origin of the ticks is confirmed by the fact that they were parasitic on the birds during the breeding season at the end of June, so the birds could not have brought them from southern countries, especially not from Africa. Since one of the specimens removed from the birds was a larva in the early stage of blood-sucking, and three maternally inherited gene sequences were identical in all ticks, it can be concluded that they originated from a local population and probably belong to the same genetic lineage. The young larva and the close genetic relationship also mean that the discovered population, whose founding specimens were possibly brought in by migrating birds from the south, is capable of reproducing in Hungary. However, it is not certain whether they can survive the winter, although the mild winter favors this, and according to literature, H. rufipes can tolerate up to 120 freezing days per year.
The regular occurrence of mature specimens of ticks belonging to the Hyalomma group has been known in Hungary for 130 years since Dr. Lajos Karpelles, a mite researcher, published his findings in 1893. In the early 20th century, Prof. Sándor Kotlán also reported their occurrence, also in Transdanubia. However, a local population of H. rufipes capable of reproduction has not been known in Hungary or Europe until now. The leader of the current research identified mature specimens of this tick species in the same county in Transdanubia on cattle in 2011.
Eurasian Penduline Tit (Bird of the Year 2023)
Further intensive research is being carried out in the affected small and western Balaton region to investigate whether the specimens of the tick population overwinter and appear on birds, domestic, and wild animals in 2023. The researchers emphasize that the discovered population is located in a remote reed habitat, away from inhabited areas, where this species and the pathogens it carries do not directly endanger beachgoers or hikers.