The Tick Ixodes kaiseri (Acari, Ixodidae) in the North Caucasus and Transcaucasia According to the Material from the Collection of Stavropol Anti-Plague Institute
To date, the North Caucasus, particularly the territory of Stavropol Territory, is traditionally indicated as the habitat of the tick Ixodes crenulatus Koch, 1844. I. kaiseri Arthur, 1957 was previously known only from a single site in the Eastern Ciscaucasia. Re-examination of collections from the North Caucasus and Transcaucasia has shown that the overwhelming majority of the specimens from these regions belong to the species I. kaiseri, allowing the revision of common views on the range boundaries of both species.
Infection Rate in the Population of Ticks Hyalomma marginatum in the Territory of the Crimean Hemorrhagic Fever (CHF) Natural Focus and Assessment of the Link with the CHF Incidence in the Stavropol Region
Objective of the study was to assess the infection rate in the population of the main CCHF virus vector Hyalomma marginatum and its impact on the CHF incidence in the Stavropol Region.Materials and methods. The data on spontaneous infection of H. marginatum ticks in the territory of the CHF natural focus in the Stavropol Region for the period 2012–2018 are presented. In total, more than 22.000 H. marginatum specimens pooled in 1546 samples were tested. The indication of CCHF virus was performed by PCR method using the reagent set for detecting RNA of the CCHF virus “AmplySens® CCHFV-FL” (produced by Central Research Institute of Epidemiology, Russia). To determine the individual infection rate in pools Beklemishev`s method was used. The data on CCHF incidence and amount of tick-bitten persons are taken from official statistics and Annual Epidemiological Report on CHF Incidence provided by the Rospotrebnadzor Administration in the Stavropol Region for the period of 2012–2018.Results and discussion. RNA of CCHF virus was detected in 161 (10.4 %) out of 1546 pooled ticks. The highest infection rate (20 %) was among nymphs. The infection rate for pooled males of H. marginatum was 11 % and for females – 8.5 %. Circulation of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus is confirmed in major part of the Stavropol Region. The average infection rate among H. marginatum population was 1.54 % for the period of 2012–2018, ranging from 0.23 % in 2014 to 2.97 % in 2017. It is established that the level of infection rate among H. marginatum population does not affect the CHF incidence in the Stavropol Region. Probably it is not the number of infected ticks in the population that determines the CHF incidence rate but their abundance.
Facies and microfacies of slope deposits
Abstract This paper reviews the facies and microfacies of the main types of slope deposits. Lamination and sorting, when preserved, are good evidence for overland flow. Features due to deformation (folds, boudins, coatings and tails due to the rotation of clasts) are associated with the early stages of deformation in earth slides. Other mass-movements such as debris flows, rock avalanches, earth flows, and to a certain extent, dry grain flows may be characterised by similar microscopic facies, typically a poorly sorted, porphyric material. Porosity gives evidence for both liquefaction (debris flows) and frost-induced mass-movement (solifluction). However, this criterion is thought to be irrelevant for fossil deposits owing to the rapidity and scale of post-depositional changes (wetting and drying, freezing and thawing, bioturbation). At present, only a detailed analysis of both the macro- and micromorphological characteristics of the deposits allows an accurate identification of past slope dynamics.