Biodiversity and distributional Ecology of ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) infesting domestic animals in Egypt

Abstract

The present study updated the list of hard tick species infesting domestic animals in Egypt, summarized all pathogens that were isolated from hard tick species, investigated the fauna of hard ticks on domestic animals in seven Egyptian governorates during 2018-2019. A total of 3265 tick specimens belonging to eleven species within three genera were collected. The three genera were Amblyomma, Hyalomma, and Rhipicephalus. Infestation rates were 350/500 (70%), 105/200 (52.5%), 150/300 (50%), 38/100 (38%), and 6/50 (12%) for camels, dogs, cattle, buffaloes, and horses, respectively. The study provided new diagnostic characters, taxonomic keys, and photographic images of eleven tick species collected during the study. The study also provided details on tick distribution, hosts, endemicity status, and pathogenic organism relationships. New measurements of the body regions such as spiracles and body grooves were provided. Here, we provided the first description of the genital apertures of five Hyalomma species. Morphological variations of male H. impeltatum, genital apertures of female H. dromedarii, and H. excavatum were illustrated in this study. Moreover, the ecological niche modeling approach was used to estimate the potential distributions of Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus (CCHFV) and its tick vectors under present-day climatic conditions. High environmental suitability of CCHFV were anticipated across southern and central Europe, northwestern Africa, central Asia, and western Mediterranean region. Ecological niche model of Dermacentor marginatus and H. marginatum showed high environmental suitability in southern and central Europe, and North Africa. The remaining vector species was anticipated to occur only in Africa. Finally, we used the maximum entropy algorithm to estimate the ecological niche of H. rufipes, and H. truncatum under both current and future climatic conditions. Hyalomma rufipes and H. truncatum showed similar environmental suitable habitats in Africa; however, both species differ in their potential distribution in Europe and western Asia. Hyalomma truncatum showed a marked increase in suitable habitats across the