Epidemiology and Risk Mapping of hard ticks (Ixodidae) infecting Small Ruminants in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan

Ticks and tick-borne diseases (TBDs) cause negatively impact production. The development of early warning systems for TBD outbreaks requires both registration and tracking of animals, which is not possible due to the transhumant nature of the sheep and goat production system. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the district-wise surveillance and risk mapping to find the epidemiological profile of tick infestation in small ruminants from KP. Ticks (n=6257) were collected from six selected districts from May 2017 to April 2018. A total of 1500 animals (goats=618 and sheep=881) were screened for the presence of ticks on different host predilection sites. Epidemiological information was sought on a prescribed questionnaire depicting age, locality, breed, host predilection sites, and local climatic conditions. A geographic information system (GIS) was used to map the risk areas having varied ticks infection. In the present study, six tick species were identified namely, Rhiphicephalus microplus, Hyalomma trancatum, H. anatolicum, H. aegyptium, H. asiaticum, and Haemaphysalis bispinosa. The tick prevalence in study districts was 21.87% in Dera Ismail Khan, 18% Mansehra, 16% in Peshawar, 15.67% each for Mardan and Mingora, and 12.8% Bannu, R. microplus was only prevalent in Dera Ismail Khan (63.81 %) and Peshawar (36.18 %) districts, while Haemaphysalis bispinosa and H. aegyptium were only recorded in Mardan. The intensity of Hyalomma spp. was highest (62.92 %) followed by Rhipicephalus spp. (36.55%), and Haemaphysalis spp., (1.15%). Hyalomma spp. showed the highest prevalence on all the host predilection sites viz: ears (62.2 %), groin areas (60.8%), under the tail (61.9 %), testicular areas (63.2 %), breast (64.5 %), and in hooves (64.7%) as compared to Rhipicephalus and Haemaphysalis species. Similarly, in sheep and goats, the adult ticks were more prevalent in the age group of 1-2 years (83.28% and 68.98%) followed by < 1 year of age group (82% and 68.89%). The results revealed a higher female tick infestation (61.9%) as compared to male ones (38.1%). The highest female to male tick ratio was 1.77:1 in Haemaphysalis species. The GIS map demonstrated that the degree of tick infestation varied within districts and villages. It was concluded that Rhiphicephalus microplus is the most economical tick species that was extensively distributed all over the KP province.