Tick infestation is the major problem for animal health that causes substantial economic losses, particularly in tropical and subtropical countries. To better understand the spatial distribution of tick species and risk factors associated with tick prevalence in livestock in Pakistan, ticks were counted and collected from 471 animals, including 179 cattle, 194 buffaloes, 80 goats and 18 sheep, on 108 livestock farms in nine districts, covering both semi-arid and arid agro-ecological zones. In total, 3,807 ticks representing four species were collected: Hyalomma anatolicum (n = 3,021), Rhipicephalus microplus (n = 715), Hyalomma dromedarii (n = 41) and Rhipicephalus turanicus (n = 30). The latter species is reported for the first time from the study area. Rhipicephalus microplus was the predominant species in the semi-arid zone, whereas H. anatolicum was the most abundant species in the arid zone. The overall proportion of tick-infested ruminants was 78.3% (369/471). It was highest in cattle (89.9%), followed by buffaloes (81.4%), goats (60.0%) and sheep (11.1%). The median tick burden significantly differed among animal species and was highest in cattle (median 58), followed by buffaloes (median 38), goats (median 19) and sheep (median 4.5). Female animals had significantly higher tick burdens than males and, in large ruminants, older animals carried more ticks than younger animals. The intensity of infestation was significantly lower in indigenous animals compared to exotic and crossbred cows. Analysis of questionnaire data revealed that the absence of rural poultry, not using any acaricides, traditional rural housing systems and grazing were potential risk factors associated with a higher tick prevalence in livestock farms. Absence of rural poultry, not performing acaricide treatments, traditional rural housing systems and grazing were important risk factors associated with higher tick prevalence in livestock farms. Age, gender, breed and animal species significantly affected the intensity of tick infestation. This report also describes the presence of R. turanicus in the Punjab Province of Pakistan for the first time. The outcomes of this study will be useful in the planning of integrated control strategies for ticks and tick-borne diseases in Pakistan.

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Distribution of ticks infesting ruminants and risk factors associated with high tick prevalence in livestock farms in the semi-arid and arid agro-ecological zones of Pakistan

Broadly, species of arthropods infesting livestock are grouped into flies (biting and non-biting), fleas, lice (biting and sucking), ticks (soft and hard), and mites (burrowing, non-burrowing, and follicular). Among which, biting and non-biting flies and ticks are the potent vectors for many bacterial, viral, rickettsial, and protozoan diseases. Vectors of livestock are having economic significance on three points (1) direct losses from their bite and annoyance, worries, and psychological disturbances produced during the act of biting and feeding, (2) diseases they transmit, and (3) expenditure incurred for their control. Flies such as Culicoides spp. and Musca spp. and various species of hard ticks play important role in disease transmission in addition to their direct effects. For control of vectors, recent concept of integrated pest management (IPM) provides the best solution and also addresses the problems related to acaricide resistance and environmental protection from hazardous chemicals. However, to successfully implement the concept of IPM, for each vector species, estimation of two monitory benchmarks, i.e., economic injury level (EIL) and economic threshold level (ETL) is essential prerequisite. For many vector species and under several circumstances, estimation of EIL and ETL appears to be difficult. Under such scenario, although may not be exact, an approximate estimate can be accrued by taking into account several criteria such as percent prevalence of vectors in a geographical area, percent losses produced, total livestock population, and current prices of livestock products such as milk, meat, and wool. Method for approximate estimation is first time described and elaborated in the present review article.

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Projected economic losses due to vector and vector-borne parasitic diseases in livestock of India and its significance in implementing the concept of integrated practices for vector management.

A review on Hyalomma species infestations on human and animals and progress on management strategies.

Exploring the prevalence and diversity of bovine ticks in five agro-ecological zones of Pakistan using phenetic and genetic tools

The present study was conducted to determine the prevalence of hard tick infestations in cattle of West Bengal from July 2015 to June 2016. The prevalence of hard tick infestations was stud...

Prevalence of hard tick infestations in cattle of West Bengal, India

A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the diversity and intensity of hard tick species infesting domestic buffalo and cattle from Haryana, India. A total of 17 collections were performed from 10 allopatric populations during the study period of August 2011 to January 2013. Out of a total number of 662 animals surveyed, 309 animals were found infested with ticks from three different genera of family Ixodidae and a total of 867 ticks were collected and identified. The genera recorded were Hyalomma Koch, 1844, Rhipicephalus Koch, 1844 and Dermacentor Koch, 1844. Tick species identified of the three genera were Hyalomma anatolicum anatolicum Koch, 1844, Hyalomma anatolicum excavatum Koch, 1844, Rhipicephalus sanguineus (Latreille, 1806), Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus (Canestrini, 1888), Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) decoloratus (Koch, 1844) and Dermacentor spp. The present study revealed that Hyalomma anatolicum anatolicum and Rhipicephalus (Boophlilus) microplus are the most common vector species infesting buffalo and cattle in this state. The level of infestation, the seasonal epidemiology of ticks and the associated management practices to adopt are discussed.

https://www.entomoljournal.com/archives/2014/vol2issue4/PartB/45.pdf

Investigations on Some Hard Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) Infesting Domestic Buffalo and Cattle from Haryana, India.

| A molecular analysis of mitochondrial 16s rDNA sequences of hard ticks belonging to genus Hyalomma from Haryana (India) and those available in genbank database was done so as to resolve inter-relationships between members of genus Hyalomma. For this a total of eighty one 16s rDNA sequences belonging to 16 taxa were subjected to molecular and phylogenetic analysis which was conducted in MEGA6 and Beast 1.8.0 software. Phylogenetic relationships were inferred using the bayesian, maximum likelihood (ML) and neighbor joining (NJ) methods by means of Tamura three parameter model + unequal frequency + gamma distribution (TPMuf+G). The analysis revealed 249 variable sites, 232 conserved sites, and 137 parsimony informative sites in the alignment. Results of the phylogenetic analysis provide support for monophyletic origin of genus Hyalomma. Further our results assert that H. anatolicum, H. excavatum, H. marginatum, H. lusitanicum, H. hussaini and H. brevipunctata represent closely related but rapidly diverging taxa and also substantiate H. asiaticum as a species complex. The molecular clock results exemplify divergence time of subfamily Hyalomminae from the common ancestor of subfamily Rhipicephalinae to be 61.99 mya and the origin of family Ixodidae to be 86.79 mya. A basic phylogenetic relationship tree is also provided to help future studies for phylogenetics of family Ixodidae especially for subfamily Hyalomminae.

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Mitochondrial 16s rDNA based Analysis of some Hard Ticks Belonging to Genus Hyalomma Koch, 1844 (Acari: Ixodidae)

Article history: Received on: 01/04/2016 Revised on: 18/04/2016 Accepted on: 29/04/2016 Available online: 04/05/2016 The present study was conducted to analyze inter-relationships between Indian hard tick using mitochondrial 16s rDNA. The sequence alignment consisted of 85 sequences, 32 sequences of 16s rDNA belonging to 7 species of two genera viz. Rhipicephalus and Hyalomma generated from PCR amplified products and 53 sequences of hard ticks from India available in genbank database. The NJ analyses conducted in MEGA6 revealed that Haemaphysalinae is basal to the clade of Rhipicephalinae + Hyalomminae in the metastriate lineage while Ixodinae was basal in Ixodidae. There were two large clades, one clade of Hyalomma anatolicum, Hy. excavatum, Hy. hussaini and Hy. brevipunctata and second clade of Rhipicephalus (Rhipicephalus) + Rhipicephalus (Boophilus). The results provide evidence for the contention of polyphyly of Rh. (Rh.) sanguineus and species complex status of Rh. (B.) microplus. A further molecular study from wider distributional area using more genetic markers is needed to confirm these observations.

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Harpreet Kaur

Papers

Investigations on Some Hard Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) Infesting Domestic Buffalo and Cattle from Haryana, India.

Mitochondrial 16s rDNA based Analysis of some Hard Ticks Belonging to Genus Hyalomma Koch, 1844 (Acari: Ixodidae)

Phylogenetic analysis of some hard ticks from India using mitochondrial 16s rDNA.