| Biodiversity of Hard ticks infesting livestock in Malekan County (Eastern Azerbaijan) |
| Paper ID : 1219-3IICE |
| Authors: |
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Leila Looch Maleki *1, Mohammad Saaid Dayer2, Mostafa Salehi-Vaziri3, parisa Lotfollahi4 1tehran- tarbiat modarres university 2Tarbiat Modares University, Faculty of Medical sciences, Department of Parasitology and Medical Entomology 3Department of Arboviruses and Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers, Pasteur Institute of Iran (IPI); 4Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Azarbaijan Shahid Madani University, Tabriz, Iran |
| Abstract: |
| Introduction: Hard Ticks are of both health and economic importance. They feed blood and transmit disease agents to human and livestock. The family Ixodidae is the largest and most important family of hard ticks including 13 genera and approximately 650 species. This study aimed to investigate biodiversity of hard ticks infesting livestock in Malekan County. Methods and Materials: Ticks were collected from livestock in 19 villages located in 3 different climatic regions along the North-South transit highway in Malekan County. The specimens were confined in coded vials and transferred to the lab under proper humidity and temperature conditions for taxonomic identification. Results: In total, 345 hard ticks (Ixodidae) were collected from indigenous herds, of which the genus Dermacentor comprises 185 (53.6%), whereas the genera Rhipicephalus, Hyalomma and Haemaphysalis constitute 81 (23.5%), 78 (22.6%) and 1 (0.3%) of ticks respectively. The ticks belonged to 10 species including Dermacentor marginatus, D. niveus, Rhipicephalus sanguineus, R. bursa, Hyalomma dromedarii, Hy. asiaticum, Hy. detritum, Hy. shulzei, Hy. marginatum and Haemaphysalis punctate, the most and less abundant of which were D. marginatus (29%) and Ha. punctate (0.3%) respectively. The sex ratios of ticks were male-biased (58.3% /41.7%). Shannon’s and Simpson’s indices showed that plain areas accommodate the most diverse and even population of hard ticks. However, despite the decrease in the species abundance with increasing altitude from the plain area towards highlands, the plateaus (foothills) was less diverse than mountains and therefore of lowere stablilty and evenness in term of tick fauna. Conclusion: Knowledge of tick diversity and distribution is prerequisite for forecasting and controlling their damages to livestock and human health. The genus Dermacentor includes vectors of important diseases such as babesiosis, anaplasmosis and tick-borne encephalitis in Iran, so their dominance in Malekan region may be taken as early warnings on diseases outbreaks. |
| Keywords: |
| Key words: Dermacentor, fauna, Haemaphysalis, Hyalomma, Ixodidae, Rhipicephalus. |
| Status : Paper Accepted (Poster Presentation) |
