Seasonal Dynamics, Record of Ticks Infesting Humans, Wild and Domestic Animals and Molecular Phylogeny of Rhipicephalus microplus in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan

Although ticks prevalent in various agro-systems of Pakistan are associated with economic losses, information is still missing about the tick’s diversity, hosts they infest, seasonal dynamic and molecular phylogeny of Rhipicephalus microplus in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Pakistan. This study for the first time enlisted ticks infesting diverse hosts including human in various regions of KP. A total of 8,641 ticks were collected across north, south and central regions of KP and were morpho-taxonomically categorized into six genera comprising 18 species, R. microplus (n=3,584, 42%), Hyalomma anatolicum (n=2,253, 27%), Argas persicus (n= 1,342, 16%), Hya. impeltatum (n=586, 7%), R. turanicus (n=161, 2%), R. haemaphysaloides (n= 142, 2%), R. annulatus (n=132, 2%), Hae. montgomeryi (n= 123, 1.4%), Hya. marginatum (n=110, 1.3%), R.…