Ticks status in Central Asia with a special emphasis on Uzbekistan

Abstract

Uzbekistan is located between the greatest rivers of Central Asia and shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south. The climate is severely continental and arid, with hot summers and cold winters. These climatic particularities of Uzbekistan determine the distribution of tick fauna. The Ixodidae family of ticks is represented by 23 species in Uzbekistan. These ticks, as ectoparasites, cause significant damage to the livestock breeding and also serve as carriers of many human and animal diseases. During the last 10 years, more than 30,000 ticks in different regions of Uzbekistan were collected and identified. Analysis showed that cattle are parasitized by 11 species of Ixodidae ticks. The dominating species were Hyalomma anatolicum (34.9%), Hyalomma detritum detritum (31.8%), Boophilus kohlsi (30.7%).