A study of ticks and tick-borne livestock pathogens in Pakistan.

ABSTRACT:

Background

As obligate blood-feeding arthropods, ticks transmit pathogens to humans and domestic animals more often than other arthropod vectors. Livestock farming plays a vital role in the rural economy of Pakistan, and tick infestation causes serious problems with it. However, research on tick species diversity and tick-borne pathogens has rarely been conducted in Pakistan. In this study, a systematic investigation of the tick species infesting livestock in different ecological regions of Pakistan was conducted to determine the microbiome and pathobiome diversity in the indigenous ticks.

Methodology/principal findings

A total of 3,866 tick specimens were morphologically identified as 19 different tick species representing three important hard ticks, Rhipicephalus, Haemaphy

SUBMITTER: Karim S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5501686 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature