Prevalence of tick infestation among domestic animals in Sargodha, Khushab and Attock districts of Punjab, Pakistan

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Ticks are arachnids responsible for major economic losses in livestock industry. Anemia, abortion, anorexia, irritation and depression due to tick infestation is not only a problem for livestock sector but ticks are also responsible for the spread of various bacterial, protozoal and viral diseases. Tick infestation in animals have also public health significance as many zoonotic diseases are also spread by ticks. Ticks can act both mechanical and biological vectors. Main objective of the present study was the isolation and identification of different tick species infesting domestic animals in Sargodha, Khushab and Attock districts. Ticks were collected from 2148 animals including cows, buffaloes, sheep, goats, horses and dogs out of total 4950 animals inspected from three districts. Overall prevalence of tick infestation among these animals was calculated to be 43.39%. Highest prevalence of tick infestation with 44.18% was observed in Attock. Cattle with the prevalence of 54.13% were the most infested animals in all three districts whereas lowest prevalence of tick infestation was observed in horses with prevalence rate of 10.67%. Sheep and goats showed almost similar prevalence rates of 44.90% and 45.97% respectively. 11.65% of dogs were found to be infested with ticks in present study. Five species of ticks namely, Hyalomma anatolicum , Rhiphicephalus (Boophilus) microplus , Riphicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus , Rhiphicephalus sanguneus and Hemaphysalis spp . were identified morphologically. Most prevalent specie among these five was the Hyalomma anatolicum with the prevalence of 42.18%. High prevalence of Hyalomma anatolicum was observed in Sargodha. Lowest identification rate of Hemaphysalis spp. was observed in all three districts with the prevalence of 4.59% in Attock and 4.00% in both Sargodha and Khushab districts. Data of tick infestation can be very handy while making control strategies for ticks. Many pandemics can be avoided by making policies keeping in view of the prevalence of ticks which are responsible for the spread of many pathogens including, protozoa, bacteria and viruses in animals and humans. Veterinary Epidemiology Ticks Sargodha Khushab Attock Livestock Tick borne diseases Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 1. INTRODUCTION Pakistan is an agricultural country. Agriculture plays an important role in the national economy of Pakistan. Livestock is the most progressing sector of agriculture currently dominating all other sectors by contributing almost 61 percent in the agriculture share in national GDP (Economic Survey of Pakistan 2023). Livestock is a rapidly growing industry in Pakistan with lot of potential to grow even more. Potential of growth in livestock sector is explicable by observing the data of its contribution in national economy in recent years’ despite of recent pandemic of COVID-19 and international economic crunch. Therefore, the threats to livestock are a quite significant problem and should be solved within a specific interval of time. Approximately 73 million people in Pakistan earn their livelihood from livestock. Diseases pose imminent threat to livestock production (Economic Survey of Pakistan 2023). Tick infestation in livestock is one of the major parasitic problem regarding health of animals including livestock and pets. Irritation, anemia, depression emaciation and production losses are important issues related to tick infestation (Atif et al. 2012 ). Another important issue related to tick infestation is their role as vector. Ticks play an important role in the spread of many bacterial, viral, and parasitic diseases (Afridi et al. 2005 ). This causes hindrance in the control of diseases. Tick borne diseases has recently gain more attention of researchers and farmers because of increasing number pathogens discovered time to time hence posing a potential threat to livestock farming community. The diseases caused or spread by tick bites cause heavy losses in tropical and sub-tropical regions all over the world. Loses of almost US $ 13.9 billion to US $ 18.7 billion are recorded annually worldwide (Aubry et al. 2011, Bennett et al. 1999 ). Due to tick-borne diseases, almost 80% of the world's cattle are in danger. There are six genera and about seventeen to nineteen species of ticks are prevalent in Pakistan which infects domestic animals like cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats, horses, and dogs (Farooqi et al. 2017 ). Previous data has shown that the most and highly infested animals are cattle and the least infested one is the horse. Furthermore, it has been observed that there is only one specie that infests the domestic fowl and one which infests the horse (Hussain et al. 2023 , Natenael et al. 2015 ). Most commonly there are three and two species that affect the sheep and goat respectively. In Pakistan June, July and August are high temperatures and more relative humidity months (Kabir et al. 2011 , Khan et al. 2004 ). Therefore, the months are favored for the ticks to infest produce and reproduce. In these months, there are most cases regarding ticks and tick-borne diseases (Ali et al. 2019 ). Role of ticks as biological vectors cannot be neglected. Ticks are responsible for spread of many pathogens and are responsible for any pandemics. Important diseases spread by ticks include Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis, Theileriosis, Lyme disease, Congo hemorrhagic fever, Rocky mountain spotted fever and Tularemia (Niaz et al. 2021 , Rar et al. 2011, Riond et al. 2007 ). Identification of biological vectors and disease surveillance is important for epizootiological and epidemiological standpoint; for determination of various species linked to infectious disease, selection of strains for vaccine, disease spread monitoring, prevalence estimates and tracking of outbreaks (Ghosh et al. 2007 ). Timely intervention to control and prevent the diseases of livestock holds great importance. Recent data of prevalence of a disease has a key role while making policy for the control of a disease (Ghosh et al. 2007 ). Hence present study was designed to investigate the prevalence of tick infestation in different domestic animals in three districts of Punjab Province, namely Sargodha, Khushab and Attock. 2. MATERIALS AND METHODS 2.1. Study area: Present study was conducted in three districts (Sargodha, Khushab and Attock) of Punjab province. These districts have diverse agro ecological conditions with extreme weather. Summer in these areas is usually long with high temperature and humidity making the conditions suitable for tick proliferation. Density and diversification of animal population is another reason for selecting these districts for current study. 2.2. Species of animals selected for tick collection: Domestic animals including cows, buffalos, sheep, goats, horses, donkeys and dogs were selected in current study for the collection of ticks. Animals play an important role in the spread of ticks. Public health significance was considered while selecting the animals for sample collections so draft and companion animals like horses, donkeys and dogs were also selected for the collection of ticks along with livestock. 2.3. Surveillance of tick infestation among bovine, ovine, caprine, equine, canine species: A cross sectional study was conducted for surveillance of tick infestation among cattle, buffaloes, sheep, goats, horses and dogs in Sargodha, Khushab and Attock districts belonging to different agro-ecological zones. Sampling unit were animals with or without clinical disease belonging to different age groups of either sex. Sampling frame included all the union councils of selected districts. In total, data was collected from 4950 animals including 1750 animals form Sargodha, 1500 animals from Khushab and 1700 animals from Attock. Data was collected from cattle, buffaloes, sheep, goats, horses and dogs comprising 1430, 1145, 715, 770, 375 and 515 animals respectively. Animals were keenly observed and thoroughly inspected for the presence of ticks. Ticks were manually collected from different parts of the animals with forceps. Care was taken to avoid any physical damage to ticks. Collected ticks were preserved in tubes with pure ethanol for further morphological identification. 2.4. Identification of tick species : Species of ticks were identified microscopically on the basis of morphological characteristics like observing the adanal plates scutum pattern, capitulum shape, spiracle plate and coxa structure. 2.5. Data analysis: Data was analyzed by using software SPSS-2018 (United States of America) 3. Results 3.1 Prevalence of tick infestation: Ticks were present on 2143 animals out of 4950 observed animals with the prevalence of 43.39% from different location in all three districts (Sargodha, Khushab and Attock) as shown in Table 1 . Attock showed highest prevalence (44.18) of tick infestation compared to Sargodha (43.54) and Khushab (42.33). However, the difference of prevalence among three districts and with overall prevalence was non-significant. Cattle (54.13%) has the highest infestation rate than all other animals whereas low infestation prevalence was observed in horses (10.67%). Dogs (11.65%) showed almost one percent more infestation prevalence than horses. Sheep (44.90%) were more infested than goats (45.97%) whereas buffalos were the second most infested animals with prevalence of 52.31%. Almost same prevalence rate of tick infestation was observed in all three districts among different animal species. In Sargodha and Attock highest tick infested animals were cattle with prevalence of 55% and 54.80% respectively whereas lowest prevalence of tick infestation was calculated in horse with prevalence rate of 10% and 10.63% in Sargodha and Attock districts respectively. Sheep had almost same prevalence rate in all three districts (Table 1 ). In district Attock, goat showed higher prevalence (52.40%) than sheep (42.98%) whereas in Khushab and Sargodha both sheep and goat have almost same prevalence of tick infestation that might be due to the difference in the tick species prevalent in Attock. Higher tick infestation was observed in dog from Khushab as compared to Sargodha and Attock, which was due to poor hygiene of dogs found in Khushab (Table 1 ). Overall, highest and lowest prevalence of tick infestation was observed in cattle and horse with 54.13% and 10.67% respectively whereas total prevalence rate of buffalo, sheep, goat, dog was 54.13%, 52.31%, 44.90%, 45.97%, 10.67% and 11.65% respectively (Table 1 ). Table 1 Prevalence of Tick infestation among different domestic animals in Sargodha, Khushab and Attock districts, Punjab, Pakistan from October 2018 to September 2019. District Samples Cattle Buffalo Sheep Goat Horse Dog Total Sargodha Collected 500 475 240 260 100 175 1750 Positive 275 260 102 97 10 18 762 Prevalence (%) 55.00 54.74 42.50 37.31 10.00 10.29 43.54 Khushab Collected 430 270 240 260 115 185 1500 Positive 225 129 118 126 13 24 635 Prevalence (%) 52.33 47.78 49.17 48.46 11.30 12.97 42.33 Attock Collected 500 400 235 250 160 155 1700 Positive 274 210 101 131 17 18 751 Prevalence (%) 54.80 52.50 42.98 52.40 10.63 11.61 44.18 Total Collected 1430 1145 715 770 375 515 4950 Positive 774 599 321 354 40 60 2148 Prevalence (%) 54.13 52.31 44.90 45.97 10.67 11.65 43.39 3.2 Species of ticks: Total 4572 ticks were isolated from 4950 animals observed in this study. Five different species namely, Hyalomma anatolicum (Hy. anatolicum), Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus (B. microplus), Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus (B. annulatus), Rhipicephalus sanguneus (R. sanguneus) and Haemaphysalis spp . were identified on the basis of morphological characteristics (Table 2 ). Out of 4572, specimens 42.18% belonged to Hy. anatolicum with highest percentage whereas B. microplus, B. Annulatus, R. sanguneus and Haemaphysalis spp . had 32.73%, 5.05%, 8.20% and 4.20% percentage isolation respectively (Figs. 1 & 2 ). In Sargodha district highest population of isolated ticks belonged to Hy. anatolicum (45.60), whereas, other species of ticks in descending order of isolated percentage population belonged to B. microplus (30.46), R. sanguneus (8.23), B. Annulatus (4.46) and Haemaphysalis spp. (4.00). Highest percentage of Hy. Anatolicum (45.60) was isolated in Khushab district with other species isolated in order of percentage population were B. microplus (30.93), R. sanguneus (9.07), B. Annulatus (4.33) and Haemaphysalis spp. (4.00). Attock had highest population of Hy. Anatolicum (37.94%) with 36.65, 7.41, 6.29 and 4.59 percentage of B. microplus, R. sanguneus , B. Annulatus and Haemaphysalis spp. population respectively. Table 2 Percentage of different species of Tick infesting different domestic animals in Sargodha, Khushab and Attock districts, Punjab, Pakistan from October 2018 to September 2019. District Hyalomma anatolicum prevalence (%) Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus prevalence (%) Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus prevalence (%) Rhipicephalus sanguneus prevalence (%) Haemaphysalis spp. Prevalence (%) Sargodha 45.60% 30.46% 4.46% 8.23% 4.00% Khushab 43.00% 30.93% 4.33% 9.07% 4.00% Attock 37.94% 36.65% 6.29% 7.41% 4.59% Total 42.18% 32.73% 5.05% 8.20% 4.20% 3.3 Gender wise prevalence of tick infestation: Tick infestation was lower in males (41.13%) of all animals as compared to females (45.31%) Fig. 3 & 4 ). 54.16% female cattle were positive for tick infestation whereas male had prevalence of 54.03%. In buffaloes, 52.10% male were positive and 52.39% of female animals were positive for tick infestation. Sheep and goats showed similar pattern of higher prevalence in male and female as 44.74%, 45.90% and 45.52%, 46.25% respectively. Mares had 10.77% prevalence of tick infestation compared and stallion had 10.56% prevalence of tick infestation. Male dogs (11.29%) showed a slightly lower prevalence of tick infestation compared to 11.99% in female dogs (Table 3 , Fig. 3 ). Predilection sites for tick infestation was determined by counting the number of ticks isolated from various body parts of animals. Perineum, udder, external genitals had 25% tick whereas 24%, 24%, 6%, 14%, 4%, 3% and 0.5% ticks were isolated from inner thighs, neck & back, tail, ears, eyes and legs respectively (Fig. 4 ). Table 3 Gender wise prevalence of Tick infestation among different domestic animals. Animal Male prevalence (%) Female prevalence (%) Cattle 54.03 54.16 Buffalo 52.10 52.39 Sheep 44.74 45.52 Goat 45.90 46.25 Horse 10.56 10.77 Dog 11.29 11.99 Total 41.13 45.31 4. DISCUSSION In present study prevalence of tick infestation was found to be 43.39%. Previously Farooqi et al ( 2017 ) found 46.54% prevalence whereas even higher prevalence of tick infested animals were reported by Atif et al in 2012. The difference in the data might be due to different location and time of sampling as both factors can affect the prevalence of tick infestation in different animals. However, in a recent study by Hussain et al. 2023 , lower prevalence of tick infestation was reported, which might be attributed to the selection of animals from commercial scale farms with good management practices resulting in lower tick prevalence, whereas in current study most of the animals were selected from small household herds with poor management practices (Ramzan et al. 2019 , Kakar et al. 2008). Furthermore, different species have different prevalence rate due presence of various species of infesting ticks and different level of care given to different types of animals (Hussain et al., 2023 ). Highest prevalence of tick infestation (44.18%) was observed in Attock district as compared to Sargodha and Khushab which indicates the effect of temperature and humidity on the tick population, other reason of higher tick prevalence in Attock was due to poor husbandry conditions of animals which was observed during the sampling. Atif et al observed similar prevalence rate in cattle from Khushab and Sargodha in 2012. Among different species of animals’ cattle showed highest prevalence in all three districts with 55%, 54.80% and 52.33% prevalence in Sargodha, Khushab and Attock district respectively. Buffalo showed high tick infestation in Sargodha (54.74%) district as compared to Attock (52.50%) and Khushab (47.78%). Higher rate of tick infestation in cattle might be due to presence of animals of exotic breeds which are more prone to tick infestation in comparison to local breeds. Import of exotic animals in recent years has been increased in Pakistan (Hussain et al. 2023 ), which might be another reason of increasing tick infestation and higher prevalence of tick borne diseases in cattle. Prevalence of tick infestation was higher in the present study as compared to previous study (Atif et al. 212); however, the sampling zones were different in both studies. In 2008 Durrani et al reported higher prevalence of tick infestation but species of ticks isolated in their study were different in comparison to findings of present study. Similarly, higher population of tick infested animals were observed by Atif et al in 2015. However, the area and time of sampling were different in present study which might be the reason of low prevalence of tick infestation in present study. Highest number of sheep were infested with ticks in Attock district among three selected districts in current research work. Similar trend of tick prevalence was observed in goats with 52.40%, 48.46% and 37.31% of tick prevalence in Attock, Khushab and Sargodha respectively. Horses and dogs surprisingly shown an alarming prevalence percentage of 11.30% and 12.97% of tick infestation in Khushab district. Lower tick infestation of dogs in Sargodha district might be attributed to good care and better husbandry conditions. To our knowledge no comprehensive study on tick infestation with the inclusion of different bovine, canine and equine animals in these three districts were conducted. Previously different studies reported different prevalence rates in these animals individually (Zahid et al. 2021 ). Furthermore, animals selected in present study belonged to different species and different age group, which is another reason of difference in population of infested animals. Gender wise prevalence of tick infestation in present study indicated that both males and females of different species of animals are equally infested with ticks (Perveen et al. 2011). The minor differences in the percentages of tick isolated from different genders might be due to the difference of preference of rearing of different genders by farmers, due to the nature of work and products obtained from different species of animals (Adil et al. 2021 ). Cattle are mostly reared for milk, hence preferring the female animals, whereas sheep and goats are mostly reared for meat production resulting in the preference of male animals. Total 4572 ticks were morphologically identified in present study with highest number of ticks from Sargodha (1623) than from Attock (1579) and with lowest number of ticks identified from Khushab (1370). Identified species include Hyalomma anatolicum , Rhiphicephalus (Boophilus) microplus , Riphicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus , Rhiphicephalus sanguneus and Hemaphysalis spp . Overall Highest prevalence of Hyalomma anatolicum (42.18%) was observed in comparison to Rhiphicephalus (Boophilus) microplus (32.73%), Rhiphicephalus sanguneus (8.20%) Riphicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus (5.05%), and Hemaphysalis spp (4.20%). Findings regarding different species of tick infestation in present studies are in agreement with findings of Rehaman et al (2017). Hyalomma anatolicum (45.60%) had highest prevalence in Sargodha and Rhiphicephalus (Boophilus) microplus (36.65%) was more prevalent in Attock district. In Khushab, prevalence of Rhiphicephalus sanguneus (9.07%) was highest as compared to other two districts in present study. Whereas in Attock Riphicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus (6.29%) and Hemaphysalis spp (4.59%) were more prevalent than districts Khushab and Sargodha. Similar data was shown previously in isolated studies conducted in these districts (Adil et al. 2021 , Ghaffar et al. 2020, Rehman et al. 2017 , Shabbir et al. 2014 , Sajid et al. 2009 ). In present study different percentages of tick were isolated from different body parts of animals with highest to lowest percentages as 96% (Perineum, Udder, External Genitalia), 93% (Dewlap), 91% (Inner thighs), 54% (Neck and back), 22% (Tail), 17% (Ears), 11% (around Eyes) and 2% (Legs), which is in concurrence with previous findings of Marufu et al in 2011 and Hofmann-Lehmann et al in 2004, regarding predilection sites of tick infestation in different animals. Body parts with higher tick isolation were the sites with higher blood supply, which enables mouthparts of ticks to reach blood vessels easily for feeding. 5. Conclusion In present study, high prevalence of tick infestation was found which is alarming regarding the production performance of livestock sector. Higher tick infestation in cattle and buffaloes have devastating effect on milk production due to the anemia caused by their feeding and continuous irritation despite the roles of tick as vector for different, bacterial, viral and parasitic diseases. Early abortions might be caused by heavy load of infesting ticks which is another factor effecting the production of farm animals and other domestic animals. Tick infestation in horses and dogs was low as compared to cattle and buffaloes but still can cause economic losses due to vector borne diseases that was evident in present study. Furthermore, it can be concluded from present study that management play an important role in controlling tick infestation. Lastly, updated information of tick prevalence can help in making the policy for control of ticks and tick borne diseases. Declarations Funding: This research work was funded by Officeof Research Innovation and Commercialization (ORIC) University of Sargodha, Sargodha, project number (UOS/ORIC/2016/08). The authors are very grateful for their financial assistance. Declaration of Competing Interest: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. Author Contribution: Kiran Faheem and Sundas Mehmood did the data collection, lab work and write up of the manuscript. Imtiaz Hussain and Muhamaad Zeeshan Ahmad supervised the study. Data Availability: The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are not publicly available due to [unavailability of any online repository] but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. Ethics Approval: This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. 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Hussain","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABCklEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBAC+QYGhgNAOgHMS2CwgQjzALEEDi1sDMwoWtKI08IA18LAcJgILWLnDx748Ychz+D88YcfHu44n9jPf4Dxwds2hjzJBhxapJMZDvbwMBQb3Mgxlkg8cztx5owEZsO5bQzF0rhsAWo5wCPBkLjhBg+DRGLbbSADKMjbxpA4D4+Wg38MgFrOH3/8I7HtHJBxgP03IS2HeRKAWg4kmAFtOQBisDGDtMzGrcXgsMwBicSZN3LMLBLbko1nzkhslpxzTqIYl/flZyc+/vjmj01iH9BhN3+22cn28x8++OFNmU2exAEc1kAAShwwgoyXSMCrASsgQ8soGAWjYBQMUwAA1Dhd7veyvVsAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4859-2386","institution":"University of Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Imtiaz","middleName":"","lastName":"Hussain","suffix":""},{"id":383213279,"identity":"49364ad8-e927-4315-9a8e-e173c00d0807","order_by":1,"name":"Kiran Faheem","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Kiran","middleName":"","lastName":"Faheem","suffix":""},{"id":383213280,"identity":"f27cbaf9-c058-495b-a630-78b39a94497b","order_by":2,"name":"Sundas Mehmood","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sundas","middleName":"","lastName":"Mehmood","suffix":""},{"id":383213281,"identity":"90d3e679-228e-43ef-af79-93450c8966a1","order_by":3,"name":"Muhammad Zeeshan Ahmad","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"PMAS-ARID Agriculture University Rawalpindi, Pakistan","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Muhammad","middleName":"Zeeshan","lastName":"Ahmad","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-11-27 06:53:39","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":false,"vertebrateSubjects":true,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false,"humanSubjectConsent":false,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":true},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5532709/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5532709/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":70188442,"identity":"c78e8772-81c4-4190-889b-b0346fb3c8bd","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-11-29 09:49:14","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":54839,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePrevalence of Tick infestation among different domestic animals in Sargodha, Khushab and Attock districts, Punjab, Pakistan\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5532709/v1/12f7989e9f7f8be6257489c1.png"},{"id":70188456,"identity":"5df4bfc9-a8fa-4dc4-921e-3e47e64e856c","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-11-29 09:49:14","extension":"png","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":140104,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePercentage of different species of Tick infesting different domestic animals in Sargodha, Khushab and Attock districts, Punjab, Pakistan\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5532709/v1/159a331e4a25817b432d332d.png"},{"id":70189617,"identity":"24533fe2-16af-4eac-b7d0-c1b635a496da","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-11-29 09:57:14","extension":"png","order_by":3,"title":"Figure 3","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":43074,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGender wise prevalence of Tick infestation among different domestic animals.\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"3.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5532709/v1/4b34b0592fb9c68f3054223b.png"},{"id":70188443,"identity":"e46bc266-2e46-495a-b3cb-c4c3042c6bb0","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-11-29 09:49:14","extension":"png","order_by":4,"title":"Figure 4","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":193737,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePercentage of ticks isolated from different parts of animals\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"4.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5532709/v1/ad09af1054dce1f44405216b.png"},{"id":70189888,"identity":"9cffed50-fe2e-49de-9dde-74c392ea7f31","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-11-29 10:05:19","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1103546,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5532709/v1/24e8fa06-db81-42ea-b055-ba84950e15a7.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare no competing interests.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003ePrevalence of tick infestation among domestic animals in Sargodha, Khushab and Attock districts of Punjab, Pakistan\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[{"header":"1. INTRODUCTION","content":"\u003cp\u003e Pakistan is an agricultural country. Agriculture plays an important role in the national economy of Pakistan. Livestock is the most progressing sector of agriculture currently dominating all other sectors by contributing almost 61 percent in the agriculture share in national GDP (Economic Survey of Pakistan 2023). Livestock is a rapidly growing industry in Pakistan with lot of potential to grow even more. Potential of growth in livestock sector is explicable by observing the data of its contribution in national economy in recent years\u0026rsquo; despite of recent pandemic of COVID-19 and international economic crunch. Therefore, the threats to livestock are a quite significant problem and should be solved within a specific interval of time. Approximately 73\u0026nbsp;million people in Pakistan earn their livelihood from livestock. Diseases pose imminent threat to livestock production (Economic Survey of Pakistan 2023). Tick infestation in livestock is one of the major parasitic problem regarding health of animals including livestock and pets. Irritation, anemia, depression emaciation and production losses are important issues related to tick infestation (Atif et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e). Another important issue related to tick infestation is their role as vector. Ticks play an important role in the spread of many bacterial, viral, and parasitic diseases (Afridi et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2005\u003c/span\u003e). This causes hindrance in the control of diseases. Tick borne diseases has recently gain more attention of researchers and farmers because of increasing number pathogens discovered time to time hence posing a potential threat to livestock farming community. The diseases caused or spread by tick bites cause heavy losses in tropical and sub-tropical regions all over the world. Loses of almost US\u003cspan\u003e$\u003c/span\u003e 13.9\u0026nbsp;billion to US\u003cspan\u003e$\u003c/span\u003e 18.7\u0026nbsp;billion are recorded annually worldwide (Aubry et al. 2011, Bennett et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1999\u003c/span\u003e). Due to tick-borne diseases, almost 80% of the world's cattle are in danger. There are six genera and about seventeen to nineteen species of ticks are prevalent in Pakistan which infects domestic animals like cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats, horses, and dogs (Farooqi et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e). Previous data has shown that the most and highly infested animals are cattle and the least infested one is the horse. Furthermore, it has been observed that there is only one specie that infests the domestic fowl and one which infests the horse (Hussain et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e, Natenael et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e). Most commonly there are three and two species that affect the sheep and goat respectively. In Pakistan June, July and August are high temperatures and more relative humidity months (Kabir et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e, Khan et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2004\u003c/span\u003e). Therefore, the months are favored for the ticks to infest produce and reproduce. In these months, there are most cases regarding ticks and tick-borne diseases (Ali et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). Role of ticks as biological vectors cannot be neglected. Ticks are responsible for spread of many pathogens and are responsible for any pandemics. Important diseases spread by ticks include Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis, Theileriosis, Lyme disease, Congo hemorrhagic fever, Rocky mountain spotted fever and Tularemia (Niaz et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e, Rar et al. 2011, Riond et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2007\u003c/span\u003e). Identification of biological vectors and disease surveillance is important for epizootiological and epidemiological standpoint; for determination of various species linked to infectious disease, selection of strains for vaccine, disease spread monitoring, prevalence estimates and tracking of outbreaks (Ghosh et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2007\u003c/span\u003e). Timely intervention to control and prevent the diseases of livestock holds great importance. Recent data of prevalence of a disease has a key role while making policy for the control of a disease (Ghosh et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2007\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eHence present study was designed to investigate the prevalence of tick infestation in different domestic animals in three districts of Punjab Province, namely Sargodha, Khushab and Attock.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"2. MATERIALS AND METHODS","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec3\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.1. Study area:\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003ePresent study was conducted in three districts (Sargodha, Khushab and Attock) of Punjab province. These districts have diverse agro ecological conditions with extreme weather. Summer in these areas is usually long with high temperature and humidity making the conditions suitable for tick proliferation. Density and diversification of animal population is another reason for selecting these districts for current study.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec4\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.2. Species of animals selected for tick collection:\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eDomestic animals including cows, buffalos, sheep, goats, horses, donkeys and dogs were selected in current study for the collection of ticks. Animals play an important role in the spread of ticks. Public health significance was considered while selecting the animals for sample collections so draft and companion animals like horses, donkeys and dogs were also selected for the collection of ticks along with livestock.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec5\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.3. Surveillance of tick infestation among bovine, ovine, caprine, equine, canine species:\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eA cross sectional study was conducted for surveillance of tick infestation among cattle, buffaloes, sheep, goats, horses and dogs in Sargodha, Khushab and Attock districts belonging to different agro-ecological zones. Sampling unit were animals with or without clinical disease belonging to different age groups of either sex. Sampling frame included all the union councils of selected districts. In total, data was collected from 4950 animals including 1750 animals form Sargodha, 1500 animals from Khushab and 1700 animals from Attock. Data was collected from cattle, buffaloes, sheep, goats, horses and dogs comprising 1430, 1145, 715, 770, 375 and 515 animals respectively. Animals were keenly observed and thoroughly inspected for the presence of ticks. Ticks were manually collected from different parts of the animals with forceps. Care was taken to avoid any physical damage to ticks. Collected ticks were preserved in tubes with pure ethanol for further morphological identification.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec6\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e\u003cb\u003e2.4. Identification of tick species\u003c/b\u003e:\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eSpecies of ticks were identified microscopically on the basis of morphological characteristics like observing the adanal plates scutum pattern, capitulum shape, spiracle plate and coxa structure.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec7\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.5. Data analysis:\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eData was analyzed by using software SPSS-2018 (United States of America)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"3. Results","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec9\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.1 Prevalence of tick infestation:\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eTicks were present on 2143 animals out of 4950 observed animals with the prevalence of 43.39% from different location in all three districts (Sargodha, Khushab and Attock) as shown in Table \u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e. Attock showed highest prevalence (44.18) of tick infestation compared to Sargodha (43.54) and Khushab (42.33). However, the difference of prevalence among three districts and with overall prevalence was non-significant. Cattle (54.13%) has the highest infestation rate than all other animals whereas low infestation prevalence was observed in horses (10.67%). Dogs (11.65%) showed almost one percent more infestation prevalence than horses. Sheep (44.90%) were more infested than goats (45.97%) whereas buffalos were the second most infested animals with prevalence of 52.31%. Almost same prevalence rate of tick infestation was observed in all three districts among different animal species. In Sargodha and Attock highest tick infested animals were cattle with prevalence of 55% and 54.80% respectively whereas lowest prevalence of tick infestation was calculated in horse with prevalence rate of 10% and 10.63% in Sargodha and Attock districts respectively. Sheep had almost same prevalence rate in all three districts (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e). In district Attock, goat showed higher prevalence (52.40%) than sheep (42.98%) whereas in Khushab and Sargodha both sheep and goat have almost same prevalence of tick infestation that might be due to the difference in the tick species prevalent in Attock. Higher tick infestation was observed in dog from Khushab as compared to Sargodha and Attock, which was due to poor hygiene of dogs found in Khushab (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e). Overall, highest and lowest prevalence of tick infestation was observed in cattle and horse with 54.13% and 10.67% respectively whereas total prevalence rate of buffalo, sheep, goat, dog was 54.13%, 52.31%, 44.90%, 45.97%, 10.67% and 11.65% respectively (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 1\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePrevalence of Tick infestation among different domestic animals in Sargodha, Khushab and Attock districts, Punjab, Pakistan from October 2018 to September 2019.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"9\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c8\" colnum=\"8\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c9\" colnum=\"9\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDistrict\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSamples\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCattle\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBuffalo\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSheep\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eGoat\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHorse\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDog\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTotal\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"2\" rowspan=\"3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eSargodha\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eCollected\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e500\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e475\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e240\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e260\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e100\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e175\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1750\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePositive\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e275\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e260\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e102\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e97\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e18\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e762\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePrevalence (%)\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e55.00\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e54.74\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e42.50\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e37.31\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e10.00\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e10.29\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e43.54\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"2\" rowspan=\"3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eKhushab\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eCollected\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e430\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e270\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e240\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e260\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e115\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e185\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1500\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePositive\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e225\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e129\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e118\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e126\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e13\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e24\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e635\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePrevalence (%)\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e52.33\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e47.78\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e49.17\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e48.46\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e11.30\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e12.97\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e42.33\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"2\" rowspan=\"3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAttock\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eCollected\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e500\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e400\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e235\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e250\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e160\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e155\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1700\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePositive\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e274\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e210\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e101\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e131\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e17\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e18\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e751\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePrevalence (%)\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e54.80\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e52.50\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e42.98\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e52.40\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e10.63\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e11.61\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e44.18\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"2\" rowspan=\"3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTotal\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eCollected\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1430\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1145\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e715\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e770\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e375\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e515\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4950\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePositive\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e774\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e599\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e321\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e354\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e40\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e60\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2148\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePrevalence (%)\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e54.13\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e52.31\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e44.90\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e45.97\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e10.67\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e11.65\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e43.39\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec10\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.2 Species of ticks:\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eTotal 4572 ticks were isolated from 4950 animals observed in this study. Five different species namely, \u003cem\u003eHyalomma anatolicum (Hy. anatolicum), Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus (B. microplus), Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus (B. annulatus), Rhipicephalus sanguneus (R. sanguneus)\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eHaemaphysalis spp\u003c/em\u003e. were identified on the basis of morphological characteristics (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e). Out of 4572, specimens 42.18% belonged to \u003cem\u003eHy. anatolicum\u003c/em\u003e with highest percentage whereas \u003cem\u003eB. microplus, B. Annulatus, R. sanguneus\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eHaemaphysalis spp\u003c/em\u003e. had 32.73%, 5.05%, 8.20% and 4.20% percentage isolation respectively (Figs.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e \u0026amp; \u003cspan refid=\"Fig2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e). In Sargodha district highest population of isolated ticks belonged to \u003cem\u003eHy. anatolicum\u003c/em\u003e (45.60), whereas, other species of ticks in descending order of isolated percentage population belonged to \u003cem\u003eB. microplus\u003c/em\u003e (30.46), \u003cem\u003eR. sanguneus\u003c/em\u003e (8.23), \u003cem\u003eB. Annulatus\u003c/em\u003e (4.46) and \u003cem\u003eHaemaphysalis spp.\u003c/em\u003e (4.00). Highest percentage of \u003cem\u003eHy. Anatolicum\u003c/em\u003e (45.60) was isolated in Khushab district with other species isolated in order of percentage population were \u003cem\u003eB. microplus\u003c/em\u003e (30.93), \u003cem\u003eR. sanguneus\u003c/em\u003e (9.07), \u003cem\u003eB. Annulatus\u003c/em\u003e (4.33) and \u003cem\u003eHaemaphysalis spp.\u003c/em\u003e (4.00). Attock had highest population of \u003cem\u003eHy. Anatolicum\u003c/em\u003e (37.94%) with 36.65, 7.41, 6.29 and 4.59 percentage of \u003cem\u003eB. microplus, R. sanguneus\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eB. Annulatus\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eHaemaphysalis spp.\u003c/em\u003e population respectively.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab2\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 2\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePercentage of different species of Tick infesting different domestic animals in Sargodha, Khushab and Attock districts, Punjab, Pakistan from October 2018 to September 2019.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"6\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDistrict\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHyalomma anatolicum prevalence (%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eRhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus prevalence (%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eRhipicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus prevalence (%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eRhipicephalus sanguneus prevalence (%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHaemaphysalis spp. Prevalence (%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eSargodha\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e45.60%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e30.46%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.46%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8.23%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.00%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eKhushab\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e43.00%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e30.93%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.33%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9.07%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.00%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAttock\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e37.94%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e36.65%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6.29%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7.41%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.59%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTotal\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e42.18%\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e32.73%\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e5.05%\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e8.20%\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e4.20%\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec11\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.3 Gender wise prevalence of tick infestation:\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eTick infestation was lower in males (41.13%) of all animals as compared to females (45.31%) Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e\u0026amp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e). 54.16% female cattle were positive for tick infestation whereas male had prevalence of 54.03%. In buffaloes, 52.10% male were positive and 52.39% of female animals were positive for tick infestation. Sheep and goats showed similar pattern of higher prevalence in male and female as 44.74%, 45.90% and 45.52%, 46.25% respectively. Mares had 10.77% prevalence of tick infestation compared and stallion had 10.56% prevalence of tick infestation. Male dogs (11.29%) showed a slightly lower prevalence of tick infestation compared to 11.99% in female dogs (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e, Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e). Predilection sites for tick infestation was determined by counting the number of ticks isolated from various body parts of animals. Perineum, udder, external genitals had 25% tick whereas 24%, 24%, 6%, 14%, 4%, 3% and 0.5% ticks were isolated from inner thighs, neck \u0026amp; back, tail, ears, eyes and legs respectively (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab3\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 3\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eGender wise prevalence of Tick infestation among different domestic animals.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"3\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAnimal\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMale prevalence (%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFemale prevalence (%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eCattle\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e54.03\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e54.16\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eBuffalo\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e52.10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e52.39\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eSheep\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e44.74\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e45.52\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eGoat\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e45.90\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e46.25\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eHorse\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10.56\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10.77\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDog\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e11.29\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e11.99\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTotal\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e41.13\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e45.31\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"4. DISCUSSION","content":"\u003cp\u003eIn present study prevalence of tick infestation was found to be 43.39%. Previously Farooqi et al (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e) found 46.54% prevalence whereas even higher prevalence of tick infested animals were reported by Atif et al in 2012. The difference in the data might be due to different location and time of sampling as both factors can affect the prevalence of tick infestation in different animals. However, in a recent study by Hussain et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e, lower prevalence of tick infestation was reported, which might be attributed to the selection of animals from commercial scale farms with good management practices resulting in lower tick prevalence, whereas in current study most of the animals were selected from small household herds with poor management practices (Ramzan et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e, Kakar et al. 2008). Furthermore, different species have different prevalence rate due presence of various species of infesting ticks and different level of care given to different types of animals (Hussain et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). Highest prevalence of tick infestation (44.18%) was observed in Attock district as compared to Sargodha and Khushab which indicates the effect of temperature and humidity on the tick population, other reason of higher tick prevalence in Attock was due to poor husbandry conditions of animals which was observed during the sampling. Atif et al observed similar prevalence rate in cattle from Khushab and Sargodha in 2012. Among different species of animals\u0026rsquo; cattle showed highest prevalence in all three districts with 55%, 54.80% and 52.33% prevalence in Sargodha, Khushab and Attock district respectively. Buffalo showed high tick infestation in Sargodha (54.74%) district as compared to Attock (52.50%) and Khushab (47.78%). Higher rate of tick infestation in cattle might be due to presence of animals of exotic breeds which are more prone to tick infestation in comparison to local breeds. Import of exotic animals in recent years has been increased in Pakistan (Hussain et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e), which might be another reason of increasing tick infestation and higher prevalence of tick borne diseases in cattle. Prevalence of tick infestation was higher in the present study as compared to previous study (Atif et al. 212); however, the sampling zones were different in both studies. In 2008 Durrani et al reported higher prevalence of tick infestation but species of ticks isolated in their study were different in comparison to findings of present study. Similarly, higher population of tick infested animals were observed by Atif et al in 2015. However, the area and time of sampling were different in present study which might be the reason of low prevalence of tick infestation in present study. Highest number of sheep were infested with ticks in Attock district among three selected districts in current research work. Similar trend of tick prevalence was observed in goats with 52.40%, 48.46% and 37.31% of tick prevalence in Attock, Khushab and Sargodha respectively. Horses and dogs surprisingly shown an alarming prevalence percentage of 11.30% and 12.97% of tick infestation in Khushab district. Lower tick infestation of dogs in Sargodha district might be attributed to good care and better husbandry conditions. To our knowledge no comprehensive study on tick infestation with the inclusion of different bovine, canine and equine animals in these three districts were conducted. Previously different studies reported different prevalence rates in these animals individually (Zahid et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR29\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). Furthermore, animals selected in present study belonged to different species and different age group, which is another reason of difference in population of infested animals. Gender wise prevalence of tick infestation in present study indicated that both males and females of different species of animals are equally infested with ticks (Perveen et al. 2011). The minor differences in the percentages of tick isolated from different genders might be due to the difference of preference of rearing of different genders by farmers, due to the nature of work and products obtained from different species of animals (Adil et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). Cattle are mostly reared for milk, hence preferring the female animals, whereas sheep and goats are mostly reared for meat production resulting in the preference of male animals. Total 4572 ticks were morphologically identified in present study with highest number of ticks from Sargodha (1623) than from Attock (1579) and with lowest number of ticks identified from Khushab (1370). Identified species include \u003cem\u003eHyalomma anatolicum\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eRhiphicephalus (Boophilus) microplus\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eRiphicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eRhiphicephalus sanguneus\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eHemaphysalis spp\u003c/em\u003e. Overall Highest prevalence of \u003cem\u003eHyalomma anatolicum\u003c/em\u003e (42.18%) was observed in comparison to \u003cem\u003eRhiphicephalus (Boophilus) microplus\u003c/em\u003e (32.73%), \u003cem\u003eRhiphicephalus sanguneus\u003c/em\u003e (8.20%) \u003cem\u003eRiphicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus\u003c/em\u003e (5.05%), and \u003cem\u003eHemaphysalis spp\u003c/em\u003e (4.20%). Findings regarding different species of tick infestation in present studies are in agreement with findings of Rehaman et al (2017). \u003cem\u003eHyalomma anatolicum\u003c/em\u003e (45.60%) had highest prevalence in Sargodha and \u003cem\u003eRhiphicephalus (Boophilus) microplus\u003c/em\u003e (36.65%) was more prevalent in Attock district. In Khushab, prevalence of \u003cem\u003eRhiphicephalus sanguneus\u003c/em\u003e (9.07%) was highest as compared to other two districts in present study. Whereas in Attock \u003cem\u003eRiphicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus\u003c/em\u003e (6.29%) and \u003cem\u003eHemaphysalis spp\u003c/em\u003e (4.59%) were more prevalent than districts Khushab and Sargodha. Similar data was shown previously in isolated studies conducted in these districts (Adil et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e, Ghaffar et al. 2020, Rehman et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e, Shabbir et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2014\u003c/span\u003e, Sajid et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2009\u003c/span\u003e). In present study different percentages of tick were isolated from different body parts of animals with highest to lowest percentages as 96% (Perineum, Udder, External Genitalia), 93% (Dewlap), 91% (Inner thighs), 54% (Neck and back), 22% (Tail), 17% (Ears), 11% (around Eyes) and 2% (Legs), which is in concurrence with previous findings of Marufu et al in 2011 and Hofmann-Lehmann et al in 2004, regarding predilection sites of tick infestation in different animals. Body parts with higher tick isolation were the sites with higher blood supply, which enables mouthparts of ticks to reach blood vessels easily for feeding.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"5. Conclusion","content":"\u003cp\u003eIn present study, high prevalence of tick infestation was found which is alarming regarding the production performance of livestock sector. Higher tick infestation in cattle and buffaloes have devastating effect on milk production due to the anemia caused by their feeding and continuous irritation despite the roles of tick as vector for different, bacterial, viral and parasitic diseases. Early abortions might be caused by heavy load of infesting ticks which is another factor effecting the production of farm animals and other domestic animals. Tick infestation in horses and dogs was low as compared to cattle and buffaloes but still can cause economic losses due to vector borne diseases that was evident in present study. Furthermore, it can be concluded from present study that management play an important role in controlling tick infestation. Lastly, updated information of tick prevalence can help in making the policy for control of ticks and tick borne diseases.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFunding:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis research work was funded by Officeof Research Innovation and Commercialization (ORIC) University of Sargodha, Sargodha, project number (UOS/ORIC/2016/08). The authors are very grateful for their financial assistance.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDeclaration of Competing Interest:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthor Contribution:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKiran Faheem and Sundas Mehmood did the data collection, lab work and write up of the manuscript. Imtiaz Hussain and Muhamaad Zeeshan Ahmad supervised the study.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eData Availability:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are not publicly available due to [unavailability of any online repository] but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEthics Approval:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval was granted by the Ethics Committee of Department of Animal Sciences, University of Sargodha (Date:09.12.2016. /No: SU/AGRI/DAS/4).\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eAdil MM, Parveen A, Asif M, Farooq M, Iqbal F. Prevalence and identification of tick species on large ruminants from district Rajanpur in Punjab Pakistan. Int J Acarol. (2021) 47:633\u0026ndash;7. doi: 10.1080/01647954.2021.19 76832\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eAfridi, Z.K., I. Ahmad, G.Z. Khattak, Q. Habibullah and M. Jamil, (2005). Incidence of anaplasmosis, babesiosis and theileriosis in dairy cattle in Peshawar. Sarhad Journal of Agriculture, 21(3): 311-316.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eAli A, Khan MA, Zahid H, Yaseen PM, Qayash Khan M, Nawab J, et al. Seasonal dynamics, record of ticks infesting humans, wild and domestic animals and molecular phylogeny of Rhipicephalus microplus in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan. Front Physiol. (2019) 10:793. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.00793\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eAtif FA,\u0026nbsp;Khan MS, Iqbal HJ, Arshad GM, Ashraf E and Sami Ullah\u0026nbsp;(2012). \u0026nbsp;Prevalence of \u003cem\u003eAnaplasma marginale\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eBabesia bigemina\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003eand \u003cem\u003eTheileria annulata\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003einfections among cattle in Sargodha District, Pakistan.\u0026nbsp;African Journal of Agricultural Research, 7: 3302-3307.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eAtif, F.A., M.S. Khan, H.J. Iqbal and T. Roheen, (2012). Prevalence of tick-borne diseases in Punjab (Pakistan) and hematological profile of Anaplasmamarginale infection in indigenous and crossbred cattle. Pakistan Journal of Science, 64: 11-15.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eAtif F A (2015).\u003cem\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u0026ldquo;Anaplasma marginale\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eAnaplasma phagocytophilum\u003c/em\u003e: Rickettsiales pathogens of veterinary and public health significance\u0026rdquo;. Parasitology Research 114: 3941-57.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eAubry, P. and D.W. Geale, (2011). A review of bovine anaplasmosis. Transboundary and Emerging Diseases, 58(1): 1-30.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eBennett R, Christiansen K, Hadley RC (1999). Preliminary estimates of the direct costs associated with endemic diseases of livestock in Great Britain. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 39: 155\u0026ndash;171.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eDurrani, A.Z., (2008). Epidemiology, serodiagnosis and chemoprophylaxis of theileriosis in cattle, PhD Thesis. 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Dreher, E. Gonczi, P. Deplazes, U. Braun, M. Engels, J. Schupbach, K. Jorger, R. Thoma, C.G. Stark, B. Willi, J. Schmidt, K.M. Kocan and H. Lutz, (2004). Concurrent infections with vectorborne pathogens associated with fatal hemolytic anemia in a cattle herd in Switzerland. Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 42(8): 3775-3780.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eHussain N, Shabbir RMK, Ahmed H, Afzal MS, Ullah S, Ali A, Irum S, Naqvi SK-u-H, Yin J and Cao J (2023) Prevalence of different tick species on livestock and associated equines and canine from different agro-ecological zones of Pakistan. Front. Vet. Sci. 9:1089999. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2022.1089999\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eKabir MHB, Mondal MMH, Eliyas M, Mannan MA, Hashem MA, Debnath NC., (2011) An epidemiological survey on investigation of tick infestation in cattle at Chittagong District, Bangladesh. African Journal of Microbiology Research.;5(4):346-352.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eKakar MN, Kakarsulemankhel JK. 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(2009) 92:386\u0026ndash;91. doi: 10.1016/j.prevetmed.2009.09.001\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eShabbir RMK, Shabbir RG, Khan MR, Malik IU, Muhammad Raza A. Seasonal activity of tick infestation in goats and buffalo of Punjab province (district Sargodha), Pakistan. Kafkas \u0026Uuml;niversitesi Veteriner Fak\u0026uuml;ltesi Dergisi. (2014) 20:655\u0026ndash;62. doi: 10.9775/kvfd.2014.10676\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eZahid H, Mu\u0026ntilde;oz-Leal S, Khan MQ, Alouffi AS, Labruna MB, et al. Life cycle and genetic dentification of Argas persicus infesting domestic fowl in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Front Vet Sci. (2021) 302:664731. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2021.664731\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"University of Sargodha, Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Ticks, Sargodha, Khushab, Attock, Livestock, Tick borne diseases","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5532709/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5532709/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThe present study was designed primarily for the investigation of tick infestation in three districts (Sargodha, Khushab and Attock) of Punjab, Pakistan. Ticks are arachnids responsible for major economic losses in livestock industry. Anemia, abortion, anorexia, irritation and depression due to tick infestation is not only a problem for livestock sector but ticks are also responsible for the spread of various bacterial, protozoal and viral diseases. Tick infestation in animals have also public health significance as many zoonotic diseases are also spread by ticks. Ticks can act both mechanical and biological vectors. Main objective of the present study was the isolation and identification of different tick species infesting domestic animals in Sargodha, Khushab and Attock districts. Ticks were collected from 2148 animals including cows, buffaloes, sheep, goats, horses and dogs out of total 4950 animals inspected from three districts. Overall prevalence of tick infestation among these animals was calculated to be 43.39%. Highest prevalence of tick infestation with 44.18% was observed in Attock. Cattle with the prevalence of 54.13% were the most infested animals in all three districts whereas lowest prevalence of tick infestation was observed in horses with prevalence rate of 10.67%. Sheep and goats showed almost similar prevalence rates of 44.90% and 45.97% respectively. 11.65% of dogs were found to be infested with ticks in present study. Five species of ticks namely,\u003cem\u003e Hyalomma anatolicum\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eRhiphicephalus (Boophilus) microplus\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eRiphicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eRhiphicephalus sanguneus\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eHemaphysalis spp\u003c/em\u003e. were identified morphologically. Most prevalent specie among these five was the \u003cem\u003eHyalomma anatolicum\u003c/em\u003e with the prevalence of 42.18%. High prevalence of \u003cem\u003eHyalomma anatolicum\u003c/em\u003ewas observed in Sargodha. Lowest identification rate of \u003cem\u003eHemaphysalis spp.\u003c/em\u003e was observed in all three districts with the prevalence of 4.59% in Attock and 4.00% in both Sargodha and Khushab districts. Data of tick infestation can be very handy while making control strategies for ticks. Many pandemics can be avoided by making policies keeping in view of the prevalence of ticks which are responsible for the spread of many pathogens including, protozoa, bacteria and viruses in animals and humans.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Prevalence of tick infestation among domestic animals in Sargodha, Khushab and Attock districts of Punjab, Pakistan","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2024-11-29 09:49:09","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5532709/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"5e32e24f-4987-4e8f-81cb-1abf0d5ac514","owner":[],"postedDate":"November 29th, 2024","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":40816960,"name":"Veterinary Epidemiology"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2024-11-29T09:49:09+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2024-11-29 09:49:09","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-5532709","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-5532709","identity":"rs-5532709","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"qtupq5eGEP_6zYnWcrvyt","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}