Microsoft Word - 3-Dr_Nabian.doc Iranian J Arthropod-Borne Dis, (2008), 2(1): 16-20 S Nabian and S Rahbari: Occurrence of Soft … 16 Original Article Occurrence of Soft and Hard Ticks on Ruminants in Zagros Mountainous Areas of Iran S Nabian1, S Rahbari, 1 1 Department. of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran- Iran (Received 22 May 2007; accepted 26 Apr 2008) ABSTRACT Background:The distribution and preferences of ticks of animals in central of Iran were studied four times a year. Methods: One thousand seven tick specimens were collected from different localities including Isfahan, Chaharmahalbakhtiary, EastAzarbaijan, West Azerbaijan, Kordestan, Kermanshah, Lorestan and Fars. Results: Most of sampled animals in this area were infested. We also encountered with a wild goat (Capra hircus aegagrus) in Kolah Qazi national park in this part that was infested intensively by Boophilus kohlsi. Fifteen ixodid tick species were identified over the study period from cattle, sheep and domestic and wild goats namely B. kohlsi (3.6%) Rhipicephalus sanguineus (4.5%), Rh.bursa (21.9%), Rh.turanicus (2.9%), Dermacentor niveus (12.9%), D.raskemensis (4.1%), D.marginatus (7.3%), Haemaphysalis punctata (3.5%), H. Parva (0.6%), H. Choldokovskyi (2%), Hyalomma anatolicum excavatum (4.8%), H.anatolicum anatolicum (5.2%), H. asiaticum asiaticum (7.3%), H. marginatum marginatum (13%), and H. detritum detritum (5.9%). The only soft tick found was Ornithodoros canestrinii which occurred in all localities of Isfahan Province but with significant differences in abundance. Clear pattern of seasonality was evident for this species and it was generally present from November to March, while ixodid ticks were present throughout the year. The largest numbers of adult ixodid ticks were generally present from April to August. Conclusion: The results showed that Rh.bursa, D.niveus and H.marginatum marginatum are dominant tick species. Keyword: Tick, Ruminant, Iran Introduction The tick studies started by Delpy (1936, 1938) in Iran. Abbasian(1960, 1961) and Mazlum (1968, 1971) described a list of adult ticks collected from domestic animals. Filipova et al. (1976) presented data for 642 ixodid tick specimens taken from small size mammals, chiefly rodents in different zo- ogeographical zones of Iran. Hoogstraal (1979, 1980) studied ixodid ticks para- sitizing wild sheep and goat in Iran with focusing on maintaining natural foci of many hazardous diseases for human. Ra- hbari (1995) published ecological aspects of various species of ticks encountering do- mestic animals in North West of Iran. Razmi (2002) published a list of tick species of do- mestic animals in North East of Iran. The Zagros Mountains are Iran's second largest mountain range. They have a length of 1500 kilometres from western Iran to the southern parts of the Persian Gulf. The rolling hills around the mountain range are main summer pastures for animals. It seems that it is a gap of study in the recent years in these areas. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the species and distribution of ticks infesting ruminants in Zagros mountainous areas. *Corresponding author: Dr S Nabian Tel: +98 21 66924469, Fax: +98 2166933222, E-mail: Nabian@ ut.ac.ir Iranian J Arthropod-Borne Dis, (2008), 2(1): 16-20 S Nabian and S Rahbari: Occurrence of Soft … 17 Materials and Methods This study was conducted in seasonal activ- ity of ticks from eight provinces of Zagros mountainous areas consisting of Isfahan, Chaharmahalbakhtiary, East Azerbaijan, West Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, Kermanshah, Lorestan and Fars. Tick sampling was performed on the whole body of 259 cattle, 334 sheep, 110 goats, and one 6 yr old dead wild goat (Capra hircus aegagrus) located in Kolah Qazi na- tional park in Isfahan province. The collected specimens were counted and preserved in 70% alcohol in glass vial and brought to laboratory for further studies. Determination was done using a stereo- mi- croscope (Zeiss) according to the identifica- tion keys (Delpy 1938, Hoogstraal & Kaiser 1959, Kaiser & Hoogstraal 1963, 1964, Walker et al. 2003, Eastrada et al. 2004, Apanaske- vich & Horak 2005). Results In this study 1007 ticks specimens were collected from 704 animals thus mean inten- sity for each animal was 1.43. Most of ticks were found on the host during the hot and humid months, but a few collections re- vealed on autumn and winter months. A total of 15 species of ixodid ticks were specified. Rh. bursa was observed as the most abundant tick (21.9%), whereas Rh. san- guineus (4.5%) and Rh. turanicus (2.9%) were rare species and the only species from genus Boophilus was B.kohlsi (3.6%). Important de- scriptions of tick infested wild goat strongly supported that the tick species in this collec- tion was only B. kohlsi. The most diversity of tick species deter- mined within the genus Hyalomma with four species; H. marginatum marginatum was found as a common fauna in this place (13%). The infestation to H. asi. asiaticum, H. detritum detritum, H.ana anatolicum and H.ana.excavatum were 7.3, 5.9, 5.2 and 4.8%, respectively. Three species of Haemaphysalis was re- corded, the infestation rate of H.punctata, H. parva and H. Choldokovskyi were 3.5, 0.6 and 2 % respectively. D. niveus (12.9%), D. marginatus (7.3%) and D. raskemensis (4.1%) were identified. The only soft tick found was Ornithodoros canestrinii which occurred at all localities but with significant differences in abun- dance, clear pattern of seasonality was evi- dent for this species and it was generally present from November to March, while ixodid ticks were present throughout the year. The largest numbers of adult ixodid ticks were generally present from April to August. Discussion Mazlum (1971) previously reported all species recorded in this study except B. kohlsi and Rh. turanicus, Rahbari et al. (2007) reported B. kohlsi as a new record for Iran. Aeschliman and Morel (1965) have de- scribed the morphological characteristic of this species. This tick is restricted to sheep and goats and occasionally horses and is re- ported from Syria, Iraq, Israel, Jordan (Hoog- stral, and Kaiser 1960, Shamsuddin and Mohammad 1988), Western Saudi Arabia (Hussein et al. 1988). It is also endemic to West Africa (Walker et al. 2003). Wild goats inhabit throughout Iran except in forest and other tall vegetation, although open range- land has been grazed occasionally by wild and domestic animals but in this survey, we could not find any specimens of B kohlsi in domestic animals although the restricted home range of Ibex implies that they could serve as a source of tick infestation for other animals within the same habitat. H. choldokovskyi was found in sheep pastured in surrounding area of these locali- ties in low number, Nabian and Rahbari (2007) Iranian J Arthropod-Borne Dis, (2008), 2(1): 16-20 S Nabian and S Rahbari: Occurrence of Soft … 18 demonstrated it from some part of Caspian Sea, but Delpy (1938) concluded that it was distributed in high altitude territories. H. parva is a rare species in this part, but it was also reported from Caspian Sea area and semi desert zones; the immature stages are frequently found on small rodents such as social vole. The adults are frequently found on sheep and goat, carnivora are also host of adult. Hoogstraal et al. (1980) previously identified it from wild sheep and he believed that the range of this species extends to Italy and also some parts of Libya. This tick has been known to transmit Theileria sergenti, and Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus. H. punctata was recorded throughout rocky mountain slopes of Zagros mountain- ous areas, though, Mazlum believed that it has been expanded its range in the most of provinces in Iran. Estrada et al. (2004) re- corded that the larvae of this tick feed on small animals such as great gerbil, the nymphs also feed on small mammals and birds. It is well known vector for Babesia motasi and B. major, it has also been demon- strated to carry Rickettsia siberica and to cause tick paralysis. H. anatolicum anatolicum was recorded over widely scattered throughout Iran. It is a vector of causative organism of tropical theileriosis and it transmits a variety of patho- genic organism such as Theileria lestoquardi, Th. equi, B.cabali, Trypanosoma theileri and Crimean- Congo haemorrhagic fever virus (Walker et al. 2003). We found that H. ana. excavatum is adapted to a variety of climatic conditions and was often less commonly found on livestock than H.ana.anatolicum. Walker et al. (2003) described its distribu- tion from the Mediterranean, steppe climatic regions of North Africa to steppe climatic regions elsewhere in its wide range includ- ing Iran and Turkmenistan. H. asi.asiaticum was found in all locali- ties of this area. Abbasian (1961) described it as a species from south-eastern Iran near the Pakistan borders. The adults parasitize camels and other domestic herbivores and also wild goats and sheep, and gazelles in semi desert and desert environments (Hoog- straal 1980). The distribution of H.marginatum mar- ginatum extended in all rolling hills of these areas with highest percentage in tick popu- lation, more or less similar pattern was ob- served by Mazlum (1971). But Hoogstraal et al. (1988) described H. detritum detritum as a tick fauna ranges from southern Europe to the Caspian, with outlying pockets in the mountains of Golestan National Park in northern part of Iran. Walker (2003), as- sumed that adults of this two-host tick infest cattle, horse, sheep, goats and camels. The immature stages feed on small mammals such as hares and rabbits and occur in the areas with Mediterranean climate of many widespread areas through to central Asia. According to the study of Mazlum (1971) who emphasized that Rh. bursa oc- curred as a dominant tick in most sheep ar- eas, we also found Rh. bursa as the major species in these areas. Rh. sanguinus popu- lation was low. Our observations demon- strated that most of sampled animals in cen- tral areas were infested with D. niveus and D. marginatus. Mazlum (1971) previously determined and reported them in most moun- tainous areas. Anaplasma phagocytophilia and Borrelia burgdorferi recently isolated from D. marginatus and there is no impor- tant report of its implications of tick borne disease in sheep and goat. Based on the results it is concluded that Rh. bursa, H. marginatum and D. niveus are dominant tick species in this area and should be noted for their ability in transmission of infectious agents. Acknowledgments We wish to express our sincere thank to Dr Allan Walker for his kind assistance. We also Iranian J Arthropod-Borne Dis, (2008), 2(1): 16-20 S Nabian and S Rahbari: Occurrence of Soft … 19 appreciate the assistances received from Ira- nian Center of Tick and Tick-borne Dis- eases. This study was supported by Research Council of Tehran University and Veterinary Organization. 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