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Conference Agenda

Overview and details of the sessions of this conference. Please select a date or location to show only sessions at that day or location. Please select a single session for detailed view (with abstracts and downloads if available).

Daily Overview

Session

CP22: Horses & Cows 2 - 10 min talks
Location: Lecture Theatre 2
Session Chair: Alicja (Ala) Tabor, The University Of Queensland
Session Chair: Sara Taylor, QIMR Berghofer

Presentation 2

First Report of Consecutive Artificial Membrane Feeding of All Life Stages of Rhipicephalus australis

Bahar E Mustafa¹, Abdul Ghafar¹, Charles G. Gauci¹, Swaid Abdullah², Ian Beveridge¹, Ard M. Nijhof^3,4, Abdul Jabbar¹

1: The University of Melbourne, Australia; 2: School of Veterinary Science, Faculty of Science, University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia; 3: Institute of Parasitology and Tropical Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany; 4: Veterinary Centre for Resistance Research, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Ticks are obligate haematophagous ectoparasites, and species within the Rhipicephalus microplus complex are responsible for substantial economic losses to the cattle industry. Traditionally, laboratory rearing of ticks has relied on live animal hosts; however, increasing animal welfare concerns have driven the development of artificial tick feeding systems (ATFS). Here, we report the first successful consecutive artificial feeding of all life stages of the Australian cattle tick, Rhipicephalus australis, using a silicone membrane-based system. Success was achieved through optimisation of membrane thickness, incorporation of olfactory stimuli and strict contamination control, enabling continuous in vitro feeding of this one-host tick species. Using larvae aged 2-13.5 weeks, all developmental stages demonstrated good attachment and engorgement rates. This study represents the first demonstration of consecutive feeding of all life stages of R. australis without the use of live animal hosts. The developed ATFS provides a good platform for further investigating tick biology and tick–pathogen interactions under controlled conditions, as well as for evaluating acaricides/vaccine candidates. However, the limitations of this system include reduced oviposition and increased mortality indicating the need for further optimisation. Overall, this system supports the principles of the 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction and Refinement) in tick and tick-borne disease research.