{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,5]],"date-time":"2026-10-05T21:01:17Z","timestamp":1791234077278,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"Wildlife Disease Association","issue":"3","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Journal of Wildlife Diseases"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,3]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>The California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus) is the largest North American land bird and an endangered species. In September 2024, the Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge reported a heavy soft tick infestation on three juvenile condors that were to be released to the wild. One was transported to Los Angeles Zoo for treatment because it showed clinical signs associated with tick paralysis, a neurotoxin-mediated paralytic syndrome. The others had slight weight loss and extensive scabbing in the areas that had previous tick burdens. Eight ticks found on perches in the flight pen were identified as Argas (Persicargas) ricei. Pathogen testing of those ticks found four positives for Rickettsia hoogstraalii, a species previously detected in raptors and their soft ticks in the southwestern USA. One tick was positive for Rickettsia lusitaniae, associated with soft ticks in bats worldwide and closely related to Rickettsia felis and R. hoogstraalii. No ticks were positive for Borrelia spp. Blood meal analysis confirmed that the California Condor was the associated host for a subset of tested ticks. All condors improved clinically with ectoparasite treatment and supportive care. These findings suggest a clear interaction between A. ricei ticks and condors. Managers should consider the checking and removal of ticks from temporary bird housing and prophylactic or event-based treatments of translocated birds; further, Rickettsia species could be considered in future wildlife health investigations.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.7589\/jwd-d-25-00150","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,6]],"date-time":"2026-07-06T22:11:39Z","timestamp":1783375899000},"page":"683-689","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Detection of Rickettsia hoogstraalii and Rickettsia lusitaniae in Argas (persicargas) ricei Ticks Infesting California Condors (Gymnogyps californianus)"],"prefix":"10.7589","volume":"62","author":[{"given":"Julia","family":"Gonzalez","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, Texas A&M University, 667 Raymond Stotzer Parkway, College Station, Texas 77843, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lisa","family":"Auckland","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, Texas A&M University, 667 Raymond Stotzer Parkway, College Station, Texas 77843, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sara A.","family":"Neumann","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Santa Barbara Zoo, 500 Ni\u00f1os Drive, Santa Barbara, California 93103, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Arianna","family":"Punzalan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"California Condor Recovery Program, US Fish and Wildlife Service, 2493 Portola Road, Ventura, California 93003, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jennifer","family":"Kennedy","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Santa Barbara Zoo, 500 Ni\u00f1os Drive, Santa Barbara, California 93103, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Julie","family":"Barnes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Santa Barbara Zoo, 500 Ni\u00f1os Drive, Santa Barbara, California 93103, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jordan","family":"Davis-Powell","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Los Angeles Zoo, 5333 Zoo Drive, Los Angeles, California 90027, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sarah A.","family":"Hamer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, Texas A&M University, 667 Raymond Stotzer Parkway, College Station, Texas 77843, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"4415","reference":[{"key":"1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"M Barrett  and B Fischer  \"Am Entomol.\"  69, \"Don't lose the louse: Articulating our values in conservation.\" 38 (2023)","DOI":"10.1093\/ae\/tmad041"},{"key":"2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"J Bunikis, U Garpmo, J Tsao, et al.  \"Microbiology (Reading).\"  150, \"Sequence typing reveals extensive strain diversity of the Lyme borreliosis agents Borrelia burgdorferi in North America and Borrelia afzelii in Europe.\" 1741 (2004)","DOI":"10.1099\/mic.0.26944-0"},{"key":"4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"D Duh, V Punda-Pol\u00ed\u0107, T Trilar, et al.  \"Ann N Y Acad Sci.\"  1078, \"Molecular identification of Rickettsia felis-like bacteria in Haemaphysalis sulcata ticks collected from domestic animals in southern Croatia.\" 347 (2006)","DOI":"10.1196\/annals.1374.068"},{"key":"5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"LA Durden  and BJ Mans  \"A century of parasitology: Discoveries, ideas and lessons learned by scientists who published in the Journal of Parasitology, 1914\u20132014.\"  \"Tick paralysis: Some host and tick perspectives.\" 167 (2016)","DOI":"10.1002\/9781118884799"},{"key":"6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"M Finkelstein, Z Kuspa, NF Snyder, et al.  \"The birds of North America.\"  \"California condor (Gymnogyps californianus) version 2.0.\" (2015)","DOI":"10.2173\/bow.calcon.01"},{"key":"7","unstructured":"DC Furman  and EC Loomis  \"The ticks of California (Acari: Ixodida).\"  230 (1984)"},{"key":"8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"J Gonzalez, M Conway, SA Hamer,  \"Parasit Vectors.\"  18, \"Bird\u2013tick and human\u2013tick encounters in the Rio Grande Valley (Texas, USA): Ecological associations and pathogen detections.\" 95 (2025)","DOI":"10.1186\/s13071-025-06725-y"},{"key":"11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"H Hoogstraal, MN Kaiser, CM Clifford, et al.  \"Ann Entomol Soc Am.\"  68, \"The subgenus Persicargas (Ixodoidea: Argasidae: Argas). 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