Assessing the Influence of Seasonal and Climatic Variations on Livestock
Tick Incidence in Tehran Province, Iran
Abstract
Ticks are known as domestic animals’ foreign parasites. They are causing
economic damage and momentous in transmitting pathogens to the livestock
industry in the world including Iran. This study was designed to define
the livestock ticks frequency by seasonal and climate variety in Tehran
province. Totally, 1623 poultry and livestock including chickens, sheep,
camels, cows, pigeons, and dogs which were infected with ticks were
studied in 2019, of which 121 soft ticks and 685 hard ticks were
collected. In the current study, 14 species of ticks were detected
including Argas persicus, Argas reflexus, Boophilus
annulatus, Hyalomma asiaticum, Hyalomma marginatum,
Hyalomma dromedarii, Hyalomma anatolicum,
Haemaphysalis sulcata, Ornithodoros lahorensis,
Haemaphysalis erinacei, Haemaphysalis inermis,
Hyalomma detritum Rhipicephalus bursa, and Rhipicephalus
sanguineus. The highest frequency was related to R.
sanguineus (36.97%), and the lowest frequency was related to
B. annulatus (0.37%). The lowest frequency of ticks was related
to B. annulatus (0.37%) and the highest one was related to
R. sanguineus (36.97%). Furthermore, the species of A.
persicus (11.53%) and Hy. marginatum (18.85%) had the highest
frequency after R. sanguineus. In mountainous and plain climates,
ticks distribution indicated that among 806 ticks, 44.78% and 55.21%
of them belonged to the mountainous and plain regions, respectively.
This study demonstrated significant abundance of Soft and Hard ticks’
and diversity of them in poultry or livestock in various regions of
Tehran province.