A survey of tick infestation of animals before Eid-al-Adha as suspected cases of Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) in Kabul city’s streets and live animal markets

Abstract

Ticks are considered the crucial vectors of many infectious agents and considered the main vectors and reservoirs of Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) virus which is endemic in Afghanistan. The main objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of tick infestation in animals brought to Kabul city streets and live animal markets before Eid-al-Adha days as suspected cases of CCHF. Totally, 4,200 animals were examined in a four-day survey to estimate the prevalence of infested animals and related risk factors in Kabul city streets and live animal markets before Eid-al-Adha days in August 2019. The animals originated from 85.3% of provinces (29/34) and consisted of sheep (66.5%), goats (14.8%), cattle (14.9%), buffallos (1.9%) and camels (0.008%). The overall prevalence of the tick infestation was 25.2% and the mean number of ticks per animal was 2.6. The prevalence was 18.2% in animals <1 year old, 23.4% in animals 1-2 years old and 33.5% in animals > 2 years old (p<0.05), but it was 27.1% in female and 25.1% in male respectively (p>0.05). From the total 2,101 ectoparasites collected, Hyalomma was the dominant genus (40.7%), followed by Rhipicephalus (6.1%), Amblyomma (5.4%), Dermacentor (1.3%), Boophilus (1.0%), Ixodes (0.05%) and Argas (0.1%). The overall awareness about CCHF among sellers/farmers was low, and only 5% just had heard about the disease. It has been concluded that tick infestation is very prevalent in animals brought to Kabul city before Eid-al-Adha days and low awareness about zoonotic diseases including CCHF among society greatly threaten the health of people.