J Arthropod-Borne Dis, Sep 2022, 16(3): 225–232 Z Telmadarraiy et al.: Study on Hard and … 225 http://jad.tums.ac.ir Published Online: Sep 30, 2022 Original Article Study on Hard and Soft Ticks of Domestic and Wild Animals in Western Iran Zakkyeh Telmadarraiy1,2, Habibollah Kooshki1, Hamideh Edalat1, Hassan Vatandoost1, Hasan Bakhshi1, Faezeh Faghihi3, Asadollah Hosseini-Chegeni4, *Mohammad Ali Oshaghi1 1Department of Medical Entomology and Vector Control, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 2Rahyan Novin Danesh (RND) Private University, Sari, Mazandaran, Iran 3Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 4Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Lorestan University, Khorramabad, Iran *Corresponding author: Dr Mohammad Ali Oshaghi; E-mail: moshaghi@tums.ac.ir (Received 08 May 2021; accepted 19 July 2022) Abstract Background: Ticks are blood-sucking ectoparasites of many vertebrates and act as vectors of a wide range of vector- borne diseases. Alongside pathogens transmission, ticks also cause economic losses in animal industry such as produc- tion loss, physical damage, anemia, and poisoning. This study aimed to determine the fauna, geographical distribution and seasonal activity of ticks collected from animals in Lorestan Province, west of Iran. Methods: Ticks were collected from domestic animals including cattle, sheep, goats, chickens, turkeys, pigeons, as well as wild animals such as jackals in 2017–2018. Then, they were identified based on morphological characteristics using valid identification keys. Results: Out of a total of 706 ticks, 433 (61.33%), 104 (14.73%), 33 (4.67%) and 136 (19.26%) ticks were collected in spring, summer, autumn and winter, respectively. In terms of hard ticks, 4 genera and 6 species were identified: Hy- alomma asiaticum (22.80%), Hyalomma anatolicum (3.68%), Hyalomma marginatum (2.40%), Rhipicephalus san- guineus (0.84%), Dermacentor marginatus (1.13%), and Haemaphysalis sulcata (0.64%). Additionally, two genera and four species fell into soft ticks: Argas persicus (60.48%), Argas reflexus (6.65%), Ornithodoros canstrini (0.70%) and Ornithodoros erraticus (0.42%). There was significant variation in the seasonal activity and abundance of ticks in dif- ferent seasons but in the tick abundancy among different regions. Conclusions: The present study provides a perspective of the distribution status of ticks in Lorestan Province, their sea- sonal activity and the likelihood of emergence of related diseases. Keywords: Ectoparasites; Argasidae; Ixodidae; Lorestan; Tick Fauna Introduction Ticks are obligatory blood-sucking ectopar- asites of different animals of mammals, reptiles, and birds which act as vectors of a wide range of viral, bacterial, and protozoan diseases. The most important diseases transmitted by ticks are Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Crimean-Con- go hemorrhagic fever, Lyme disease, typhus, ehrlichiosis, tularemia, babesiosis, Colorado tick fever, and relapsing fever (1–6). Alongside pathogens transmission, ticks cause important economic losses in animal in- dustry. They also cause production losses, phys- ical damages, anemia and poisoning, as well as negative impacts on human public health in- cluding annoyance, dermatitis, fatigue, malnu- trition, and even death (7,8). Almost 900 rec- ognized species of ticks fall into three major families: Ixodidae, Argasidae and Nuttallielli- dae (a monotypic family representing the most primitive living lineage of ticks) (9). The grow- ing number of ticks has a connection with ris- ing accessibility of new environments and an increase in the number of host species special- ly in wild animals (10). Besides, climate chang- Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Tehran University of Medical Sciences. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by- nc/4.0/). Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted, provided the original work is properly cited. http://jad.tums.ac.ir/ mailto:moshaghi@tums.ac.ir https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ J Arthropod-Borne Dis, Sep 2022, 16(3): 225–232 Z Telmadarraiy et al.: Study on Hard and … 226 http://jad.tums.ac.ir Published Online: Sep 30, 2022 es, especially temperature rise, have expanded the range of many tick species as warm condi- tions make the environment more suitable for these vectors (11, 12). Therefore, the effects of infestation with ticks impose more effects on the lives of hu- mans and animals. Also, the need for studies on tick fauna and their environmental ecology in different geographical areas is felt more than before. The first study of ticks in Iran was con- ducted by Delpy on the prevalence of hard ticks (Ixodidae); Furthermore, Abbasian-Lintzen (13) and Mazloum (14) reported a list of ticks, col- lected from different livestock. Over time, many studies were conducted in different parts of Iran regarding of ticks infesting livestock (15–20). Some studies examined the fauna of ticks in western Iran. Davari and colleagues inves- tigated the distribution and fauna of ticks in Aleshtar county in Iran (21). Kayedi et al. (22) also identified hard and soft ticks collected from livestock in Aleshtar and Aligudarz counties, Lorestan Province, Iran. Ramezani et al. (23) also studied the ticks of livestock and their sea- sonal activities in northwest of Iran. However, an up-to-date and comprehensive study that ex- amines most of the province counties in all sea- sons seems necessary. The aim of this study was to determine the fauna, geographical dis- tribution, and seasonal activity of ticks col- lected from animals in Lorestan Province, west of Iran. Materials and Methods Study area Lorestan Province (33.4871°N; 48.3538°E) covers an area of 28,294km2 in western Iran. It shares borders with Hamadan Province in the north, Markazi Province in the northeast, Isfahan Province in the east, Khuzestan Prov- ince in the south, Ilam Province in the west, and Kermanshah Province in the northwest. The highest point of the province is the Oshtorankuh mountain (more than 4,000m above sea level, asl) while the low-lying areas are in the south- ern parts of the province (500m asl). Climati- cally, the province can be divided into two types of the mountainous experiencing cold winters and moderate summers, and warm weather ex- periencing hot summers and relatively moder- ate winters. 70% of Lorestan villages are lo- cated in mountainous areas and 30% in plains. According to Iran’s Statistics Organization in 2016, there were 246,900 cows, 1864,300 sheep and 814,900 goats in Lorestan Province. Collection of ticks and their identification In this investigation, 24 villages from 7 counties of Lorestan Province including Dorud, Dowreh, Delfan, Selseleh, Kouhdasht, Pol-e- Dokhtar, and Khorramabad were selected for sampling. Ticks were collected from both plains and mountains during winter 2017 until the fall of 2018 using forceps and were placed into sep- arate labelled vials. A multistage random sam- pling method was used in which four livestock holding units were randomly selected from each village for tick collection. Ticks were collected from domestic animals including cattle, sheep, goats, chickens, turkeys, and pigeons, as well as wild animals such as jackals. Samples were transferred to the Tick laboratory, Department of Medical Entomology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Teh- ran, Iran, along with the cold chain for species identification. Genera and species were diag- nosed under stereomicroscope according to val- id morphological keys (24). Ethical approval for this study was obtained from Tehran University of Medical Sciences Board (Approval number/ID: IR.TUMS.SPH. REC.1399.244). Results Of 706 ticks collected, 224 hard ticks (31. 73%) and 482 soft ticks (68.27%) were identi- fied during sampling period .In terms of hard ticks, four genera and six species were identi- fied including: Hyalomma asiaticum Schulze http://jad.tums.ac.ir/ J Arthropod-Borne Dis, Sep 2022, 16(3): 225–232 Z Telmadarraiy et al.: Study on Hard and … 227 http://jad.tums.ac.ir Published Online: Sep 30, 2022 and Schlottke, 1930 (22.80%), Hy. anatolicum Koch, 1844 (3.68%), Hy. marginatum Koch, 1844 (2.40%), Rhipicephalus sanguineus Latreil- le, 1806 (0.84%), Dermacentor marginatus Sul- zer, 1776 (1.13%), and Haemaphysalis sulcata Canestrini and Fanzago, 1878 (0.64%). Aiddi- tonally, two genera and four species fell into soft tick family including: Argas persicus Oken, 1818 (60.48%), A. reflexus Fabricius, 1794 (6.65%), Ornithodoros canstrini Bir 1895 (0.70%) and O. erraticus Lucas, 1849 (0.42%). Chi-square test showed a significant difference between the sam- pling area and tick species (P= 0.001) (Table 1, Fig. 1). Out of a total of 706 ticks, 433 (61.33%), 104 (14.73%), 33 (4.67%) and 136 (19.26%) ticks were collected in spring, summer, autumn and winter, respectively (Fig 2). Chi-square anal- ysis revealed a significant difference between the tick distribution and different seasons (P= 0.000). Fig. 1. Distribution map of tick species collected from different counties of Lorestan Province, west of Iran, 2017–2018 Fig. 2. Seasonal distribution of hard and soft ticks collected in Lorestan Province, west Iran, 2017–2018 http://jad.tums.ac.ir/ J Arthropod-Borne Dis, Sep 2022, 16(3): 225–232 Z Telmadarraiy et al.: Study on Hard and … 228 http://jad.tums.ac.ir Published Online: Sep 30, 2022 Table 1. Geographical abundance, percentage, and distribution of ticks in Lorestan Province, 2017–2018 Tick Species Location Total N (%) Dorud N (%) Dowreh N (%) Delfan N (%) Selseleh N (%) Kouh Dasht N (%) Pol-e-Dokhtar N (%) Khorramabad N (%) Hyalomma asiaticum 11 (6.8) 33 (20.5) 20 (12.4) 18 (11.2) 32 (19.9) 28 (17.4) 19 (11.8) 161 (22.8) Hyalomma anatolicum 1 (3.8) 4 (15.4) 0 (0) 0 (0) 7 (26.9) 11 (42.3) 3 (11.5) 26 (3.7) Hyalomma marginatum 1 (5.9) 0 (0) 6 (35.3) 7 (41.2) 1 (5.9) 0 (0) 2 (11.8) 17 (2.4) Rhipicephalus sanguineus 1 (16.7) 3 (50.0) 1 (16.7) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 1 (16.7) 6 (0.85) Dermacentor marginatus 0 (0) 2 (25.0) 1 (12.5) 1 (12.5) 0 (0) 0 (0) 4 (50.0) 8 (1.1) Haemaphysalis sulcata 0 (0) 1 (16.7) 0 (0) 0 (0) 1 (16.7) 1 (16.7) 3 (50.0) 6 (0.85) Argas persicus 14 (3.3) 54 (12.6) 87 (20.4) 42 (9.8) 91 (21.3) 59 (13.8) 80 (18.7) 427 (60.5) Argas reflexus 1 (2.1) 14 (29.8) 7 (14.9) 12 (25.5) 0 (0) 3 (6.4) 10 (21.3) 47 (6.7) Ornithodoros canstrini 2 (40.0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 3 (60.0) 5 (0.7) Ornithodoros erraticus 0 (0) 3 (100.0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 3 (0.4) Total 31 (4.4) 114 (16.15) 122 (17.3) 80 (11.3) 132 (18.7) 102 (14.45) 125 (17.7) 706 (100) Discussion The results of the present study showed that of 706 collected ticks, 224 belonged to hard ticks and 482 were soft ticks. Further to soft ticks, the dominant genus was Argas and the dominant species was A. persicus. Among hard ticks, the most common genera and species were Hyalomma and Hy. asiaticum, respectively. Var- iation of Hyalomma genus was more demon- strated. Statistical analyzes showed that there is a significant relationship between seasons and tick distribution. As a result, the prevalence of ticks is higher in spring and summer than in autumn and winter. We suggest that tempera- tures increase in spring season and provides fa- vorable weather conditions that facilitates the growth and survival of ticks during the spring season in the study area. Also, it is shown that abiotic factors such relative humidity, temper- ature, and rainfall and biotic (availability of an- imal richness impact tick densities and activi- ty (25–27). This is in concordance with the re- sults of other researchers indicating variation in seasonal activity of ticks (12). The Chi-square test showed a significant dif- ference between the sampling area and tick spe- cies. The frequency of Hyalomma, Dermacentor, Haemaphysalis and Ornithodoros genera were high in Khorramabad which is a mountainous region while Argas and Repicephalus were the most abundant species in plain region such as Delfan and Dowreh counties, respectively. In concordance with our study, Davari et al. showed that A. persicus was the most frequent species of soft ticks in Lorestan Province (21). However, they also concluded that Rh. san- guineus was the dominant species in the re- gion which is different from our results. This difference could be justified due to limited sam- pling area in Davari’s research. Additionally, in both researches the frequency of ticks was higher in spring, which is reasonable due to the pick of tick activity in warmer seasons. Fur- thermore, Kayedi and colleagues reported that A. persicus was the dominant soft tick species in the area (22). However, they also concluded that the dominant species in Aleshtar and Ali- http://jad.tums.ac.ir/ J Arthropod-Borne Dis, Sep 2022, 16(3): 225–232 Z Telmadarraiy et al.: Study on Hard and … 229 http://jad.tums.ac.ir Published Online: Sep 30, 2022 godarz counties was Rh. sanguineus. It should also be noted that they only surveyed two coun- ties which were lower than our sampling areas. Kayedi et al. (22) also concluded that tick fre- quency deceased from spring to winter during the year, the same as our result. Hyalomma asi- aticum is the second most prevalent species in the present study. A survey on fauna of ticks in West Azerbaijan Province showed high preva- lence of Rh. sanguineus and Hy. asiaticum (24). Another study revealed presence of nine species of hard ticks in northwest of Iran (23). A study of tick fauna in Tandoureh National Park, Khora- san Razavi, east of Iran, revealed that six spe- cies were present: D. niveus (47.2%), Rh. tura- nicus (32.9%), D. raskemensis (8.6%), Hy. tu- ranicum (5.6%), Ha. sulcata (3%) and Hy. ae- gyptium (2.6%) (28). In that study, D. niveus was the most predominant species. This species is distributed in semi-deserted areas. This could be the reason behind the absence of this genus in our study area. In another study conducted on hard ticks of domestic ruminants and their sea- sonal dynamics in Yazd Province, east of Iran, ticks were classified into three genera and sev- en species including Hy. dromedarii (55.92%), Hy. marginatum (13.20%), Hy. anatolicum (9.78 %), Hy. detritum (4.98%), Hy. asiaticum (3.94 %), Rh. sanguineus (11.84%), and D. margina- tus (0.34%). The highest seasonal activities oc- curred in summer (29). In a study on the bor- der of Iran-Pakistan, southeast corner of Iran, the collected ticks were classified into three genera: Hyalomma (90.7%), Rhipicephalus (6.1 %), and Dermacentor (3.2%) where Hy. ana- tolicum was the most common species in the study area (30). In north of the country, 15 species of ticks were identified based on their morphological characteristics including Rh. sanguineus, R. bursa, I. ricinus, Ha. punctata, H. sulcata, H. erinacei, H. inermis, Hy. marginatum, Hy. asi- aticum, Hy. excavatum, Hy. anatolicum, Hy. dromedarii, Hy. detritum, B. anulatus and A. persicus. Dominant species were Rh. sanguineus and Hy. asiaticum respectively (31). Haema- physalis asiaticum also ranked second preva- lent species in our study. However, fewer spe- cies were found in the present study. In a study in south Khorasan Province, east of Iran, two genera and seven species of ticks were identi- fied including: Rh. Sanguineus (21.9%), Hy. detritium (25.0%), Hy. marginatum (2.4%), Hy. anatolicum (0.8%), Hy. asiaticum (1.6%), Hy. dromedarii (43.0%) and Hyalomma sp. (4.7%) (32). Other studies in eastern parts of Iran also revealed that Rhipicephalus and Hyalomma are more prevalent (33, 34). In terms of Soft ticks’ dominance in Iran, Argas genus is the only or the dominant species. In general, the differences between different studies of tick fauna can be justified due to variations in sample size, geo- graphic area, hosts, date of collection and veg- etation. Argas persicus (fowl tick or poultry tick), is found predominantly on chickens, ducks, and geese. Lorenz Oken reported this species in Mianeh for the first time. They are carriers of Borrelia anserina, causative agent of avian spi- rochetosis, one of the most serious infections of the poultry. Hyalomma genus is the most im- portant tick species associated with Crimean- Congo haemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV). The most abundant species found in Iran are as fol- lows: H. anatolicum, H. asiaticum, H. detritum, H. dromedarii, H. excavatum, H. marginatum, H. rufipes and H. schulzei (1, 12, 35). Repiceph- alus sanguineus and D. marginatus are also in- volved in CCHFV transmission. Due to the pre- dominant tick fauna of the region and the pos- sibility of and Borrelia epidemics, further studies in this field seem necessary to prevent the risk of potential occurrence. Ornithodoros erraticus which was identified in our study, plays an important role in the trans- mission of the Qalyub virus, African swine fe- ver viruses, Borrelia procedure, and B. hispan- ica (36, 37). Clarification of the status of these diseases in the ticks of the region requires mo- lecular approaches to provide a clear view, alt- hough the occurrence of these diseases in Iran seems rare. http://jad.tums.ac.ir/ J Arthropod-Borne Dis, Sep 2022, 16(3): 225–232 Z Telmadarraiy et al.: Study on Hard and … 230 http://jad.tums.ac.ir Published Online: Sep 30, 2022 Conclusions The present study provides a perspective of the distribution status of ticks in Lorestan Province, their seasonal activity and the likeli- hood of emergence of related diseases. Aware- ness of the potential risk of diseases will assist with animal and public health. Acknowledgements This study was supported by Tehran Uni- versity of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; (Grant No. 43192). Ethical considerations Ethical approval for this study was obtained from Tehran University of Medical Sciences Ethics board (Approval number: IR.TUMS.SPH. REC.1399.244). 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