Microsoft Word - Dr Sh Salari Lak RTL.doc Iranian J Arthropod-Borne Dis, (2008), 2(2): 28-34 Sh Salari Lak et al: Seasonal Activity of … 28 Original Article Seasonal Activity of Ticks and their Importance in Tick-Borne Infectious Diseases in West Azerbaijan, Iran Sh Salari Lak 1 , *H Vatandoost 2 , Z Telmadarraiy 2, R Entezar Mahdi 1 , EB Kia 2 1Department of Epidemiology, Orumyeh University of Medical Sciences, Iran 2 School of Public Health & Institute of Health Research, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran (Received 1 Nov 2008; accepted 12 May 2009) Abstract Background: West Azerbaijan is considered as a main region for domestic animal breeding. Due to importance of herd as a main host and ticks as a vector of relapsing fever and CCHF, a comprehensive study was undertaken in the region. Methods: Outdoor, indoor collection as well as ticks stick to the animals’ body were collected and identified. The study was conducted during the whole seasons in 2004-2005. Results: During four seasons a total of 2728 ticks of two families (Ixodidae and Argasidae) were collected compris- ing 7 genera of 5 hard ticks and two genera of soft ticks including Haemaphysalis, Hyalomma, Rhipicephalus, Boophilus and Dermacentor. The soft ticks were Ornithodoros and Argas. These 7 genera included 18 species. The main species were Haemaphysalis inermis, H. punctata, H. sulcata, H. numidiana, H. concinna, Hyalomma marginatum, Hy. anatolicum, Hy. detritum, Hy. dromedarii, Hy. asiaticum, Hy. schulzei, H. aegyptium, Rhipicephalus bursa, R. sangiuneus, Dermacentor marginatus, Boophilus annulatus, Ornithodoros lahorensis, and Argas persicus. Frequency of ticks during different seasons was different. A pyrethroid insecticide, cypermethrin, which is widely used for tick control was tested against soft ticks. The test method was based on WHO recommendation. At the LD50 level A. persicus needs more concentration than O. lahorensis. Conclusion: Ornithodoros and Argas are the more prevalent soft ticks in the region. Distribution and prevalence of hard ticks was varied in different seasons. Results of this study will provide a clue for vectors of tick-borne diseases in the region for local authorities for implementation of tick control. Keywords: Tticks, Iran, Borrelia Introduction Ticks are important to human and vet- erinary medicine, they act as vectors of bac- terial, protozoal, rickaettsial, spirochaetal and viral diseases of humans, domestic stock and companion animals. As ectoparasites with ir- ritating bites, they cause extensive harm to their hosts due to blood loss, damage to the skin and anorexia leading to reduction in growth. They are considered as agents of 'tick paralysis' in man and animals, probably due to the secretion of toxic substances in their saliva. Lesions can be caused by ticks (dermatophilosis) in cattle, goats and sheep. Ticks and tick-borne diseases affect animal and human health worldwide and are the cause of significant economic losses. Appro- ximately 10% of the currently known 867 tick species act as vectors of a broad range of pa- thogens of domestic animals and humans are also responsible for damage directly due to their feeding behavior (Jongejan and Uilenberg 2004). There are several works on biology, distribution, systematics of hard and soft ticks in Iran (Janbakhsh and Ardelan 1970, Abbas- sian-Lintzen 1960, Brumpt 1935, Deply 1936, Baltazard et al. 1952, Maghami 1968, Ma- zlumi 1968). The aim of this study was to find fauna of hard & soft ticks (families: Ixodidae *Corresponding author: Dr. H. Vatandoost, Tel: +98 21 88951393, Fax: +98 21 88951393, E- Mail: hvatandoost @yahoo.com Iranian J Arthropod-Borne Dis, (2008), 2(2): 28-34 Sh Salari Lak et al: Seasonal Activity of … 29 & Argasidae) in West Azerbaijan Province and susceptibility level of soft ticks to cur- rently used insecticide, cypermethrin. Material and Methods Study area West Azerbaijan Province is located in North West part of Iran (37.5528 ° N 45.0759° E, Fig. 1). In the study area the total numbers of 20 villages were selected randomly and survey conducted in these villages. Tick collection Tick collection were carried out in animal, human dwelling and poultry shelter from cracks, crevices, ceiling and floor in 30 min. Ticks were collected, from animal body of sheep, cow, goat, calf and buffalo. After collection they were transferred into the ho- lding tubes. All the specimens were identi- fied by morphological characteristics. Susceptibility of soft ticks to cypermethrin The susceptibility of different strains of soft ticks including, A. persicus and O. lahorensis to cypermethrin by topical appli- cation method was determined. The O. la- horensis strains were collected from Bijar, Kurdistan province, Takab, Western Azer- baijan Province and Meshkinshahr, Ardebil Province respectively. The A. persicus strains were collected, from Khoramabad, Lorestan Province, and Takab, Western Azerbaijan Province, in 2004 from Iran and tested with cypermethrin. Mortality data from the repli- cates were pooled and the dose-response was assessed by probit analysis, using appropri- ate statistical package. Results During the study period among 20 villages the total number of 2728 ticks were collected and identified. Table 1 shows the number of soft and hard ticks in whole study area. From the table it can be concluded that the frequency of ticks in spring was more than other seasons, the least was observed in summer. Table 1 indicate the number of soft and hard ticks separately, the population of hard ticks in winter was lower than other seasons, in contrasts the hard ticks was more prevalent during autumn. In spring all 18 species of hard and soft ticks were collected (Table 2). Among 881 specimens A. persicus has the highest preva- lence. In spring Hyalomma was more preva- lent than other hard tick genus. The species of Hy. anatulicum had the highest frequency among hard ticks. In summer only 8 species of ticks were collected. In spring A. persicus also consid- ered the most prevalent species. Out of 16 spe- cies of hard ticks only 6 species were collec- ted, mainly comprise the genus Hyalomma. During the summer which is hot season in the region the distribution of all collected ticks was normally equal. From Table 3 it can be concluded that the different species of Hya- lommma is active and soft ticks also present. During autumn a total of 628 ticks were collected and identified. They belong to the families of Ixodidae and Argasidae and soft ticks O. lahorensis and A. persicus, among which the H. concinna, was more prevalent (Table 4). The pattern and occurrence of ticks during winter was different, O. lahorensis had the highest activities. Among 744 collected ticks, this species comprises 78% of all spe- cies, remaining (22%) includes H. inermis, H. punctata, H. sulcata, A. persicus, H. con- cinna (Table 5). In the topical application bioassay, the average LD50 of O. lahorensis Bijar, west Azerbaijan, Meshkin shahr, and A. reflexus Lorestan, and West strains were 0.03, 0.04, 1.7, 0.7 and 1.7 µg/ticks, respectively and the steep slopes of dose-response curves indi- cated that the field populations of these soft tick strains were homogenous in response to cypermethrin. Iranian J Arthropod-Borne Dis, (2008), 2(2): 28-34 Sh Salari Lak et al: Seasonal Activity of … 30 Table 1. Total number of collected ticks in different seasons in West Azerbaijan, Iran Spring Summer Autumn Winter Total Season Hard ( 427) Soft (454) Hard (159) Soft (316) Hard (486) Soft (142) Hard (92) Soft (652) Hard (1164) Soft (1564) No. collected 881 475 628 744 2728 Table 2. Distribution of ticks in spring in West Azerbaijan, Iran Number Species Male Female total 1-H. inermis 2- H. punctata 3-H. sulcata 4- H. numidiana 5- H. concinna 6- Hy. marginatum 7- Hy. anatulicum 8- Hy.detritum 9- Hy. dromedarii 10- Hy. asiaticum 11- Hy. schulzei 12- Hy. aegyptium 13- R.bursa 14- R. sangiuneus 15- D. marginatus 16- B. annulatus 17- O. lahorensis 18- A.persicus Total 5 7 3 18 1 37 47 10 23 5 2 0 5 1 1 0 - - 40 10 38 9 28 31 53 13 36 16 4 1 6 2 1 1 - - 45 17 41 27 29 68 100 23 59 21 6 1 11 3 2 1 110 317 881 Table 3. Distribution of ticks in summer in West Azerbaijan, Iran Number Species Male Female total 1- Hy.marginatum 2- Hy. anatolicum 3- Hy. detritum 4- Hy. dromedarii 5- Hy. asiaticum 6- Hy. schulzei 7- O. lahorensis 8- A.persicus Total 22 37 19 4 11 14 - - 7 12 7 2 10 14 - - 29 49 26 6 21 28 41 275 475 Iranian J Arthropod-Borne Dis, (2008), 2(2): 28-34 Sh Salari Lak et al: Seasonal Activity of … 31 Table 4.Distribution of ticks in autumn in West Azerbaijan, Iran Number Species Male Female Total 1-H. inermis 2- H. punctata 3-H. sulcata 4- H. numidiana 5- H. concinna 6- Hy.marginatum 7- O. lahorensis 8- A. persicus Total 15 22 1 6 43 2 - - 14 17 1 31 334 0 - - 29 39 2 37 377 2 37 105 628 Table 5. Distribution of ticks in winter in West Azerbaijan, Iran Number Species Male Female Total 1-H. inermis 2- H. punctata 3-H. sulcata 4- H. concinna 5- O. lahorensis 6- A. persicus Total 77 9 3 3 - - 0 0 0 0 - - 77 9 3 3 582 70 744 Fig. 1. Study area in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran Iranian J Arthropod-Borne Dis, (2008), 2(2): 28-34 Sh Salari Lak et al: Seasonal Activity of … 32 Discussion Among soft ticks the two genus Orni- thodoros and Argas exhibit the more preva- lence in the region. The host preference of hard ticks is mainly observed on sheep, poultry, cow and goat, respectively. The soft ticks, Ornithodoros was mainly on sheep, calf and cow, respectively. Hen was found the most favorable host for Argas. The hard ticks were more prevalent during spring and autumn but soft tick mainly occurs in winter. Genus Hy. anatuli- cum and Hy. dromedarii in spring, Orni- thodoros in autumn, Hy. detritum and Hy. marginatum in summer were more prevalent. Hy. schulzei was found mainly in spring. In soft ticks genus Argas had minimum activity during winter. The ranking order of hard ticks in terms of frequency during the year was Haemaphysalis, Hyalomma, Rhipicepha- lus, Dermacentor and Boophilus. Dermacen- tor and Boophilus had the lowest frequency in the area which is collected only in spring. Tilecoo (1997) in Takab of West Azer- baijan Province, found O. tholozani. In an- other study Piazak et al. in 1991 found that the genus Hylaomma, Rhipicephalus, Hae- maphysalis, and Boophilus live in some parts of West Azerbaijan which is parallel to our results, they also emphasized that genus Der- macentor was active during the spring. Tavakolli et al. (1987) carried out a simi- lar study in Lorestan Province and found that genus O. lahorensis was active during the winter which is parallel to our study, but Der- macentor life time occurs mainly in spring. From the results it can be concluded that the variation among genus was wider in West Azerbaijan than Lorestan Province. He was not able to collect Boophilus. In similar study in adjacent province to the West Azerbaijan, of the 1,421 ticks collected from Adrebil, north- western Iran, 45.9%, 40.3% and 13.8% were of the O. lahorensis, O. tholozani and A. per- sicus species, respectively. The prevalence of ticks was the highest in Khandabil village. The ticks collected from three villages were found to be infected with Borrelia (Arshi, et al. 2002). A case of meningitis from Borre- liasis is found in Ardebil Province (Majid- pour, 2003). Telmadarraiy et al. (2004) de- scribed the fauna of ticks in west Azerbaijan and found 15 species of hard and soft ticks. Vatandoost et al. (2003) conducted a survey in a Borreliasis foci of Iran in Hamadan Prov- ince and reported that the A. persicus, A. re- flexus, O. tholozani, O. canestrinni and O. la- horensis were present in the region. O. tho- lozani was found infected by Borrelia persica. (Agighi et al. 2007) explained the situation of Borreliasis in Qazvin Province. They found that O. tholozani was infected with B. persica and O. erraticus by B. microti. In a similar study a total of 5938 soft and hard ticks were collected from different habitats, mostly human dwellings and stables of Semnan Province. The rate of infection among O. tholozani ticks by Borrelia persica was 36.6% (Nekoui, 1999). In our study we were not able to collect the Borreliasis vectors, i.e. O. tholozani and O. erraticus, found in disease foci in Iran. Robinson & Spradling (2006) cited the main important tick borne disease transmit- ted by different ticks in Iran and neighboring countries of Caucasus region. They referred to Bunya fever by different species of Hae- maphysalis specially H. punctata; Crimrean- Congo Hemorrhagic fever by the bite of Hy. marginatum, Hy. anatulicum, Hy. detritum, Hy. dromedarii, Hy. schulzei, Hy. impleltatum, Hy. asiaticum and O. lahorensis; Dhori Vi- rus fever transmitted by the bite of Hy. dro- medarii, Hy. marginatum and D. marginatus; Boutanneuse by the bite of R. sangiuneus, Dermacentor spp, Haemaphysalis spp, Hya- lomma spp, and Boophilus spp; Astarakhan Fever by the bite of R. pumilio; tick-borne relapsing fever transmitted by O. tholozani, O. erraticus and O. asperus; Lyme disease which its primary vector is Ixodes ricinus and I. persulcatus and other Ixodes species. Tick- Iranian J Arthropod-Borne Dis, (2008), 2(2): 28-34 Sh Salari Lak et al: Seasonal Activity of … 33 Borne Relasping fever (TBRF) is a notifi- able disease in Iran. In the last ten years a total of 1415 cases have been reported from the entire country. The highest prevalence was observed in year 2002 with incidence of 0.41/ 100.000 population. Ardabil Province was the first ranked infected area (625 out of 1415). The ranking order of prevalence was seen in Hamedan, Zanjan, Kurdestan and Qazvin provinces, respectively (Dr. Masoumi Asl, Min- istry of Health, personal communication). From our results it can be concluded that nearly main species which are emphasized earlier (Robinson & Spradling 2006) are exist in the study area, in addition O. tholozani play an important role in relapsing fever transmis- sion in adjacent region. The possibility of contact between human, animal and ticks in this area may creates a high risk of acquiring different diseases such as Bunya fever, CCHF, Dhori Virus and Boutanneuse. Both soft ticks (Argasidae) and hard tick (Ixodidae) play an import role for transmission of disease to human (Gray, 2002; Cunha, 2000). Our recent work in Ardebil Province indicated the presence of virus in the genera of Hyalomma, Rhipicepha- lus and Ornithodoros. Around 50% of host animals were IgG positive to the CCHF virus (unpublished documents). We propose further serological and molecular works for clarifica- tion of infectivity of ticks, host and reservoir for disease transmission cycle confirmation. It is found that cypermethrin is effective against soft ticks which is mainly find in whole sea- sons, so that application of pyrethroid insec- ticides with periodically monitoring of insec- ticide resistance is recommended for tick con- trol in the region as indoor residual treatment. For control of hard ticks which are more preva- lent in autumn and spring dipping method could be an appropriate measure for this purpose. Acknowledgments The authors would like to appreciate the collaboration of all the staff of the Department of Medical Entomology. 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