Molecular Identification and Characterization of Exotic Tick Species in Egypt: Livestock Ticks from Neighboring African Countries

Senbill, Haytham; Zeb, Jehan; Soliman, Ahmed Mohamed

doi:10.21608/asejaiqjsae.2024.387234

Molecular Identification and Characterization of Exotic Tick Species in Egypt: Livestock Ticks from Neighboring African Countries

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Department of Applied Entomology & Zoology, Faculty of Agriculture, Alexandria University, Alexandria 21545, Egypt

² 2Centre for Immunology and Infection (C2i) Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation, Hong Kong SAR, China. 3 School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China

³ Department of Applied Entomology and Zoology, Faculty of Agriculture, (El-Shatby), Alexandria University, Egypt

10.21608/asejaiqjsae.2024.387234

Abstract

Out of the 44 hard tick species identified in Egypt, a minimum of ten species are classified as exotic. The current study was conducted to molecularly characterize the ticks that infest imported livestock animals. Ticks were obtained from livestock and camels in Cairo and Giza governorates that had been imported from other African countries. The study revealed the occurence of Amblyomma gemma, Am. lepidum, Am. hebraeum, Am. variegatum, Hyalomma impressum, and Rhipicephalus decoloratus. The collected ticks showed a significant similarity of Am. gemma to isolates from Kenya by 99.5%, Am. hebraeum to South African isolates by 98%, Am. lepidum to isolates from Kenya by 99%, Am. variegatum to Ethiopian isolates by 99.7%, Hy. impressum to isolates from Benin by 98.8%, and Rh. decoloratus to isolates from South Africa by 99%. Phylogenetically, the identified ticks have consistently clustered with their highest similarities showing high bootstrap values based on the sequences of 28S rRNA.