Abstract
Background: Ticks are ecto-parasites of domestic animals, rodents, and wildlife living for periods at a time on one or more vertebrate hosts. They are important vectors of viral, bacterial, or parasitic diseases in livestock and humans. Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus and the spotted fever rickettsiae are some of the tick-borne diseases of public health importance reported in Kenya. Their distribution and public health risks among communities, especially pastoralists, remain poorly characterized due to limited surveillance, affected partly by inadequate capacity for tick identification arising from a limited number of skilled taxonomists. Materials and Methods: The aim of this survey was to identify tick species currently circulating in different livestock hosts in northern Kenya. Ticks were sampled from cattle, sheep, goats, and camels in Turkana, Isiolo, Baringo, and West Pokot counties, and differential identification was carried out using morphological identification keys followed by molecular characterization based on the cytochrome c oxidase I gene (cox1). Haplotypes were determined using the DnaSP v6 software and phylogenetic relationships inferred using the maximum likelihood algorithm. Results: A total of 12,206 ticks were collected, from Turkana (45.4%), Isiolo (23.1%), Baringo (22.7%), and West Pokot (8.8%) counties in Kenya. Ten species were confirmed by molecular analysis; H. rufipes, H. impeltatum, H. dromedarii, R. pravus, R. camicasi, R. pulchellus, R. evertsi evertsi, A. variegatum, A. gemma, and A. lepidum. There was no disparity in the morphological and molecular identification of Amblyomma species. However, molecular analysis provided insight into the complexity of morphological identification especially among Hyalomma and Rhipicephalus species. High haplotype diversities (0.857-1.000) and low nucleotide diversities (0.00719-0.06319) were observed in all the tick samples tested. Conclusion: The findings highlight the diversity of tick species in dry pastoral ecologies in Kenya and the importance of confirming morphological identification by molecular analysis thus contributing to accurate mapping of tick-borne disease distribution and risk.
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Vector borne and zoonotic diseases (Larchmont, N.Y.)
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
