Animal Parasitology and Reproduction

Our work is oriented towards ticks and tick-borne diseases. We advise on identification, sampling, design control protocols, study resistance to acaricides and the acaricidal or repellent effect of new natural products as well as their competence and vectorial capacity with alternative methods in animal experimentation. Our main contributions to society are the following: i. we have demonstrated the transmission of the nematode A. dracunculoides by R. sanguineus, of the protozoan T. equi by R. bursa, and of the zoonotic bacterium C. burnetii by H. lusitanicum, ii. We have identified D. marginatus for its anthropophilia, H. lusitanicum for its abundance and vectorial role and I. ricinus for its vectorial role as the tick species of greatest risk in Spain. The group's research in recent years has focused on Mediterranean hard ticks, being an international reference in Hyalomma lusitanicum.