Molecular characterization of ticks infesting livestock in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan

In recent decades, climate change has significantly affected the relationship between parasites and host animal species. Parasitism in livestock has especially increased in terms of ticks and tick-borne diseases (TTBDs). Ectoparasite and their associated diseases present a major problem for dairy-based economies like Pakistan where the livelihood of farmers is deeply associated with the marketing of milk and milk-related products. The work herein describes a cross-sectional study designed to investigate the distribution of ticks infesting household large ruminants (cows and buffaloes) from different areas of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province (KPK), Pakistan. Five ecologically distinct districts of the KPK were selected and a total number of 649 ticks were hand collected from cows (n = 156) and buffaloes (n = 121) from February to May of 2018. Collected ticks were morphologically identified using standard keys followed by molecular confirmation targeting the cytochrome c oxidase (COX1) gene. Regression model and Pearson Chi-square tests along-with descriptive analysis were used for risk factor analysis and prevalence of ticks. A phylogenetic tree was constructed from COX1 gene sequences of ticks procured from livestock in the KPK. We observed that Rhipicephalus (97.22%) was the most prevalent tick genera infesting livestock in KPK followed by Hyalomma (2.77%). This study identified the most prevalent tick species in the province, which will contribute to what strategies can be implemented for tick control based on species distribution data.