Author(s)

Ahmad Jafarbekloo¹, Hassan Vatandoost², Alireza Davari², Faezeh Faghihi³, Hasan Bakhshi², Maryam Roya Ramzgouyan⁴, Mohammad Nasrabadi², Zakkyeh Telmadarraiy^2*

¹School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), Tehran, Iran.
²School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), Tehran, Iran.
³Depatment of Tissu Engineering, Iran University of Medical Sciences (IUMS), Tehran, Iran.
⁴School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), Tehran, Iran.

To determine the tick species parasitizing domestic ruminants in Zabol, Zahak and Qaen Counties which are located in east of Iran and are bordered with Afghanistan country, about 73 sheep, 44 goats and 27 cattle of 12 herds in several villages in Zabol, Zahak and Qaen Counties were inspected for tick infestation. Separated ticks were preserved in 70% alcohol and identified. About 464 ticks (252 male; 194 female) were collected; the occurrences of ticks on goats, cattle and sheep were about 17%, 15% and 26% respectively in all three Counties. The mean number of ticks on each animal was about 2 - 7 ticks per animal. Totally we found 3 genera hard ticks including Hyalomma, Rhipicephalus and Dermacentor in these regions. Hyalomma anatolicum, Hy. marginatum, Hy. asiaticum, Hy. detrinium, Rhipicephalus bursa, R. sanguineus, Dermacentorniveus, and D. marginatus, were the tick species we found. Hyalomma anatolicum and Hy. asiaticum were the most abundant species in the study area. The result of this study is a survey of tick species from domestic animals in east part of Iran and implication of possible prevention measures for diseases transmitted by ticks.

Tick, Ruminants, Borderline, Iran, Afghanistan

Jafarbekloo, A. , Vatandoost, H. , Davari, A. , Faghihi, F. , Bakhshi, H. , Ramzgouyan, M. , Nasrabadi, M. and Telmadarraiy, Z. (2014) Distribution of Tick Species Infesting Domestic Ruminants in Borderline of Iran-Afghanistan. Journal of Biomedical Science and Engineering, 7, 982-987. doi: 10.4236/jbise.2014.712095.