Molecular Investigation of Coxiella Burnetii in Hard Ticks Collected FromSome Livestock in the Sistan Region

Coxiella burnetii (causative agent of Q fever) is an important zoonotic diseasewith a universal occurrence. Ticks are natural and potential reservoirs of this bacterium and play aneffective role in the transmission of Q fever. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of Coxiellaburnetii in hard ticks isolated from livestock in Sistan.

This cross-sectional study was conducted in five counties of the Sistan region. Thegenus and species of hard ticks were identified after collection from some domestic animals. The nested-PCR technique was used to identify the bacterial genome.

Results:

 Of all examined ticks, two genera, including 354 Hyalomma (59.399%) and 242 Rhipicephalus(40.6%) were identified. The hard ticks are in three types of species as follows: Rhipicephalus sanguineus(40.1%), Rhipicephalus nymph (0.5%), Hyalomma anatolicum (47.5%), Hyalomma sp. (1.5%), Hyalommanymph (10.4%), and Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus (0.16%). No infected specimen with Coxiellaburnetii was observed in the Sistan region.

According to the results of previous studies in Sistan and Baluchestan province and neighboringprovinces that reported a high prevalence of Coxiella burnetii in collected ticks, it seems that moreextensive research, with a larger sample size and host range, is necessary to clarify the situation of thispathogen.