Ticks are one of the most dominant forced ectoparasites of vertebrates, belonging to the arthropods, which transmit pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, and parasites to humans and animals in Iran and worldwide. Given that, sex ratio factors can affect the epidemiology of vector-borne diseases, this study aimed to identify and determine the ticks' sex ratio and host type (camels, sheep, cattle, dogs, chickens, and pigeons) in different areas of Tehran province. This descriptive cross-sectional study took samples from different animal body parts in four seasons from 20 villages in 2019, in which 685 hard ticks and 121 soft ticks were caught from 1623 studied livestock and poultry. Regarding sex segregation among all caught ticks, 42.01% were male, and 57.99% were female. It is noteworthy that in both mountain and plain environments, R. sanguineus species of hard ticks had the most elevated sex ratio. Most ticks were collected from sheep hosts with 60.04% and the lowest from cattle hosts with 0.62% in tick infestation.
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Study on prevalence and identification of livestock tick by sex ratio and host in Tehran province
https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1759027/v1
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Generally, ticks are divided into two large families, Ixodidae (hard ticks) and Argasidae (soft ticks) with various species and genera, are among the most critical obligate ectoparasites of animals, especially livestock and poultry 1. These blood-sucking ectoparasites as pathogenic vectors transmit bacteria, viruses, and protists to hosts, including animals and humans. These pathogens cause various diseases (e.g., bacterial diseases (Q fever, Lyme disease, borreliosis, relapsing fever, and borreliosis), fungal diseases (dermatophilosis), protozoal diseases (babesiosis and theileriosis), and rickettsial diseases (ehrlichiosis, Brazilian spotted fever, anaplasmosis, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever) 2,3. Since sex ratio is a critical parameter determining the status and dynamics of animal populations, studies on sex ratio are vital for understanding the biology of populations and the biology of pathogens. Accordingly, arthropod vectors (e.g., ticks) sex ratio could play different roles in pathogen transmission 4,5.
Although ticks have been known since time immemorial, their importance in causing livestock troubles initiated in the mid-19th century; due to the world population increase and the nutritional needs, the number of livestock through the industry has increased rapidly. At the same time, concerns and issues related to ticks emerged 6. In 1814, piroplasmosis was diagnosed in cattle in the United States, and in 1821 it was discovered that the disease was transmitted to cattle by the ticks' bite called Boophilus annulatus 7. In 1971, Mazloum in Iran conducted studies on the geographical distribution, seasonal activity, preferred ticks hosts, and diseases transmitted to livestock and humans 8. Pourmand et al. have also conducted a study to determine the frequency and species diversity of hard ticks and their sex ratio in equids in Sardasht suburb, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran. Their results indicate the presence of 85.48% male and 14.51% female ticks with the highest frequency of Hyalomma anatolicum (67.74%), H. marginatum (8.01%), Rhipicephalus bursa (21.94%), and Dermacentor marginatus (2.29%), respectively 9. Therefore, considering that tick bites are a manner of transmitting the disease to livestock and poultry, it seems that identifying the dominant ticks by host and sex ratio of ticks can be a practical way to oppose ticks and prevent transmitted diseases by them stop economic failures due to livestock losses. This study aimed to determine the sex and identify ticks in different hosts, including camels, sheep, cattle, dogs, chickens, and pigeons in Tehran province during 2019.
Geographical area
This study was performed in 20 selected villages of Tehran province with an area of about 185.956 square kilometers, located between 34 to 5.36 degrees north latitude and 50 to 53 degrees east longitude.
Sampling Size And Method
The sample size was determined using the 10 procedure, in which (d = 0.045, p = 0.3, (1-p) = 0.7). Accordingly 685 hard ticks and 121 soft ticks were collected from 1623 livestock and poultry.
Sample Collection And Identification
The feeding ticks on the animal body were separated from different parts such as earlobes, groin, tail base, and abdomen and transferred to particular cans using a pence. Then the characteristics of the animal (age, sex, livestock owner, and livestock code), village name, and date of tick collection, collector name, and the number of caught ticks were recorded on the can and transferred to a unique flask to maintain the humidity and temperature required by the ticks. This study was conducted by Ebrahim Abbasi in the field and studied ticks in several cities of Tehran province. (Fig. 1). The ticks were then transferred to the laboratory for diagnosis and placed under a loop (stereomicroscope) to identify the sex and species using the valid diagnostic keys of the world and the region 11.
Identification and distribution of livestock ticks by sex
This study gathered 685 hard ticks and 121 soft ticks from a total of 1623 domestic animals, including camels, sheep, cows, dogs, chickens, and pigeons infected with ticks. Regarding sex segregation among all caught ticks, the results showed that 42.01% of ticks were male, 57.99% female, and 15.01% soft ticks (Fig. 2). In addition, among 685 hard-caught ticks (44.37%), 304 were male, and (55.62%) 381 were female (All data is available and all data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this supplementary information file as an appendix). In both mountain and plain climates, R. sanguineus has the highest sex ratio of hard ticks (Table 1).
|
species |
Mountainous |
Plain |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
♂ |
♀ |
♂ |
♀ |
|
|
R. sanguineus |
74 |
102 |
64 |
58 |
|
Hy. marginatum |
0 |
0 |
91 |
61 |
|
Hy. asiaticum |
0 |
0 |
26 |
41 |
|
Hy. dromedarii |
0 |
0 |
17 |
32 |
|
Hae. sulcata |
0 |
47 |
0 |
0 |
|
Hy. anatolicum |
0 |
0 |
15 |
6 |
|
Hae. inermis |
12 |
12 |
0 |
0 |
|
Hae. erinacei |
0 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
|
R. bursa |
5 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
|
Hy. detritum |
0 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
|
B. annulatus |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
|
Total |
91 |
177 |
213 |
204 |
Identify And Determine The Distribution Of Ticks By Host Type
Concerning tick-infested hosts, most ticks were collected from sheep with 60.04% and the lowest from cattle with 0.62%. Among the species of caught ticks, in the family of hard ticks, the genus Boophilus was collected only from the cattle, the genus Haemaphysalis from the sheep and goats, and the genera of Ripisfalus and Hyalomma were collected from all hosts (except pigeons, chickens, and corral wall). In the soft tick's family, the genus Ornithodoros was collected only from the cage wall, and the genus Argas was collected from both pigeon and chicken. Unlike soft ticks, no soft ticks were caught from cattle, sheep, goats, camels, and dogs. (Table 2). The frequency of caught tick species by host type is such that in cattle, two species of Hy. marginatum and B. annulatus were found in small quantities. In sheep, Rhipicephalus sanguineus with 242 numerals had the highest, and R. bursa with 5 numerals had the lowest amount. R. sanguineus is found with the highest accumulation on the body of goats. In camels, the species Hy. marginatum had the highest, and R. sanguineus had the lowest frequency. In dogs, only R. sanguineus with 19 numbers was found. In pigeons, only A. reflexus of the genus Argas has been collected. A. persicus was collected in significant abundance from the chicken body, and O. lahorensis was found only from the corral wall (Table 3).
|
Host |
Ticks genera |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Rhipicephalus |
Hyalomma |
Argas |
Haemaphysalis |
Ornithodoros |
Boophilus |
|
|
Cattle |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
|
Sheep |
242 |
174 |
0 |
68 |
0 |
0 |
|
Goats |
42 |
8 |
0 |
12 |
0 |
0 |
|
Camels |
4 |
111 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Dogs |
19 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Pigeons |
0 |
0 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Chickens |
0 |
0 |
93 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Corral Wall |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
19 |
0 |
|
Total |
307 |
295 |
102 |
80 |
19 |
3 |
|
Host |
Corral Wall |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Ticks species |
Cattle |
Sheep |
Goats |
Camels |
Dogs |
Pigeons |
Chickens |
|
|
R. sanguineus |
0 |
237 |
38 |
4 |
19 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Hy. marginatum |
2 |
84 |
0 |
66 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
A. persicus |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
93 |
0 |
|
Hy. asiaticum |
0 |
61 |
0 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Hy. dromedarii |
0 |
17 |
8 |
24 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Hae. sulcata |
0 |
44 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Hy. anatolicum |
0 |
12 |
0 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
O. lahorensis |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
19 |
|
Hae. inermis |
0 |
18 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Hae. erinacei |
0 |
6 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
A. reflexus |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
|
R. bursa |
0 |
5 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Hy. detritum |
0 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
B. annulatus |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Total: 806 |
5 |
484 |
62 |
115 |
19 |
9 |
93 |
19 |
The current study results show that sex ratios observed in ticks differ among genera and even among host populations. Life-history aspects probably play an essential role, but survival analyses under natural conditions are lacking in practically all tick genera, which are crucial to elucidate general patterns. Prospective molecular methods will provide new routes to determine the vast spectrum of possible performers that affects sex ratios. Previous studies demonstrated that sex ratios could depend on the season and area of collection. Also, in arthropods (e.g., ticks), sex ratios could be skewed towards females by reproductive parasites that appertain to this gender for their transmission (transovarial) 12,13. Our results showed that the highest rate of infected livestock with ticks related to sheep with 60.04%, and the lowest rate related to cattle with 0.62% because most studied livestock was sheep. The study in Ghaemshahr city demonstrated that the highest rate of infected livestock with ticks was observed in sheep with 28.3% and the lowest with 20% in cattle, which is compatible with our results 14. In addition, the dominant fauna species was Rhipicephalus Sanguineus, which was consistent with the results of many previous researchers 15,16. Therefore, in conclusion, the genus and species of dominant ticks in each region are diverse, and the geographical zone and climatic conditions of the area regulate the species and even the sex of active ticks in that province. Therefore, due to the high contamination of sheep, it is necessary that the authorities veterinary personnel and ranchers in the control and control programs against external livestock parasites (ticks). At least twice a year (with a maximum interval of 30 days), in addition to corral pesticide spraying, bathing the animals in the anti-tick bath.
Acknowledgments
I acknowledge the Tehran province Veterinary Office for its help and cooperation.
Data availability
The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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No competing interests reported.