Persian Journal of Acarology

Persian Journal of Acarology

The parasitism of Persian jird by immature stages of Hyalomma asiaticum (Acari: Ixodidae) and its identification using molecular approaches in Iran

Authors
1 Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Lorestan, Lorestan, Iran; E-mail: hosseinichegeni @gmail.com
2 Razi Herbal Medicines Research Center, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Lorestan, Iran
3 Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Research Centre for Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran; E-mails: mostafaviehsan@gmail.com, mohamadiali2013@yahoo.com, a.mahmoudi.bio@gmail.com
4 National Reference Laboratory for Plague, Tularemia and Q Fever, Research Centre for Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Akanlu, Kabudar Ahang, Hamadan, Iran.
5 National Reference Laboratory for Plague, Tularemia and Q Fever, Research Centre for Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Akanlu, Kabudar Ahang, Hamadan, Iran
6 Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Khorramabad, Iran; E-mail: Kayedi78@yahoo.co.uk
10.22073/pja.v7i4.39233
Abstract
In the present study, occurrence of Hyalomma asiaticum on wild rodents was explored. Rodents were trapped using Sherman traps. The tick specimens were collected by forceps from the rodents. Overall, one larva and 59 nymphs of immature ticks were collected on 23 Meriones persicus from three different locations in western Iran. A 408 bp length fragment of nuclear 5.8S/internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) genes was amplified in 60 examined tick specimens using PCR, of which one sample was sequenced, successfully. The BLAST results showed 99% similarity between a new haplotype from this study and two sequences of H. asiaticum from GenBank and. Therefore, we conclude that immature stages of H. asiaticum live on M. persicus and/ or their burrows. This finding helps us to better understand tick's ecology and control tick borne diseases.
Keywords