Transovarial transmission in ticks refers to which process?

• A. Chemical.
• B. Transovarial.
• C. Mechanical.
• D. Infection through interrupted feeding.

Answer: (B)

Transovarial transmission is vertical transmission from an infected female tick to her offspring via the eggs. The pathogen resides in the adult female’s ovaries and is included in the eggs, so the larvae hatch already infected and can pass the infection to subsequent life stages without needing to acquire it from a host at each molt. This is different from transstadial transmission, where the same pathogen remains through the tick’s molts (larva to nymph to adult). It’s also not mechanical transmission, which would involve the tick carrying pathogens on its mouthparts and transferring them during feeding without an actual inherited infection. An interrupted-feeding scenario isn’t a standard transmission route. So the process described is the mother-to-offspring transfer of the pathogen via the eggs.