Ticks fauna of sheep and goats in some suburbs of Mazandaran province, Iran

Ticks are obligatory blood sucking arthropods that can transmit important pathogens. The distribution and diversity of ticks fauna were last studied in the north of Iran in 2007. Mazandaran province has a humid climate, which is favourable to animal husbandry such as sheep breeding. Due to humid climate, the likelihood of exposure to tick infestation is increasing. The aim of this study was to determine the ticks founa of sheep and goats that grazed on the outskirts of mazandaran in 2012. During the first 7 months of 2012, a total of 1190 tick specimens were collected from the whole body of sheep and goats from 23 different points of Mazandaran province. Adult male ticks were identified under a stereomicroscope, according to the identification keys. The identified tick specimens belonged to six Genus and 11 species, including Rhipicephalus turanicus (47%), Rhipicephalus bursa (24.6%), Haemaphysalispunctata (17.16%), Rhipicephalus sanguineus (4%), Haemaphysalis concina (3%), Haemaphysalis parva (1%), Hyalomma marginatum (1%), Hyalomma anatolicum (0.6%), Dermacentor marginatus (0.6%), Ixodes ricinus (0.5%), and Boophilus (Rhipicephalus) annulatus (0.3%). Rh. turanicus was the most abundant tick. Due to climate change, regular monitoring of distribution patterns of ticks is an important concern to control the ticks and tick-borne diseases.