Conclusions
In the course of our research, we examined the occurrence of non-endemicHyalomma ticks in Hungary using the citizen science method. The
use of community research was successful in terms of both website
traffic and number of submitters. Participants reacted positively,
people took the program noticeably seriously. Due to the importance of
the topic and the good reception, our goal is to continue the research
next spring, so the first years’ experience is also useful for
fine-tuning the project. One striking result of our research was that
one of the two Hyalomma found was discovered in the only cattle
involved in our research. Hyalomma often parasitize large
domesticated mammals in their adult stages, as was previously known (S
Hornok & Horváth, 2012; Uiterwijk et al., 2021). It would therefore be
worthwhile next year for our program to target inspections of
establishments affected in this respect. This could be done, for
example, by finding journals, online platforms and social media groups
for animal husbandry, horse riding, or by looking for farms specializing
in these. Data were received from across the country, but most
submissions are clearly from the capital or a narrower neighbourhood. In
the future, greater emphasis should be placed on rural areas, especially
livestock farms, villages and towns. As media presence has proven to be
key to our research, in the future we will try to focus on the print and
electronic media presence also in rural areas.
In addition, it would be worthwhile to launch a media campaign for the
project as early as the end of the winter, ensuring that people take
pictures of the ticks already discovered in the spring and send them via
mail. This would be important because in such cases, there would
probably only be individuals of the potentially overwinteringHyalomma ticks in the country, so such an observation would
indicate that the group may be able to form local populations in the
future. It is of utmost importance to continue systematic monitoring ofHyalomma ticks in the future. We will analyse these and futureHyalomma specimens for the occurrence of CCHFV and other
pathogens to be able to monitor and prepare for the introduction of
transboundary and emerging diseases.