"Danilo Gonçalves Saraiva" National Tick Collection (CNC)

Currently one of the largest tick collections in Latin America, and one of the most representative of the neotropical region.

The “Danilo Gonçalves Saraiva” Nacional Tick Collection (CNC) of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Zootechnics (FMVZ) of the University of São Paulo (USP) was started in 1997, upon the hiring of Marcelo Bahia Labruna, Veterinary Doctor, who began working in FMVZ-USP as professor of Parasitic Diseases of the Department of Preventive Veterinary Medicine and Animal Health (VPS).

In October 2016, the CNC’s full name was changed to honor the researcher Danilo Gonçalves Saraiva, whose memory will always be preserved amongst his friends at FMVZ-USP, due in particular to his numerous collaborations in studies of ticks and tick-transmitted diseases.

The CNC is extremely valuable due to the rarity of the deposited material, and it remains under the management and curatorship of Professor Labruna. During this time, Professor Labruna has focused primarily on parasitic ticks of domestic and wild animals. Thanks to his extensive participation in studies on tick epidemiology and tick-transmitted diseases, much material was collected from several locations in Brazil by his research group, and by several collaborators from different research groups throughout the country. This resulted in the redescription of several tick species and stages, and in the description of new species by Professor Labruna and collaborators, of which types and paratypes are deposited in the CNC.

The CNC is still used as a reference collection for deposition of collected ticks in field studies of domestic and wild animals by other teaching and research institutions from different regions in Brazil (universities, zoos, triage centers, rehabilitation centers, commercial nurseries, scientific nurseries, and conservation facilities).

The CNC of FMVZ-USP is physically a part of the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases II of VPS, one of the largest collections of Acari: Ixodida: Argasidae, Ixodidae in Latin America, and one of the most representative of parasitic ticks of domestic and wild animals, and eventually humans, of the neotropical region. It currently includes approximately 3500 registered deposited lots, and other lots still awaiting deposit.

Photos on Facebook of PPG VPS