Species Identification of Ixodid Ticks on Sheep and Detection of Their Carryon Pathogens in Aksu,Xinjiang
In order to identify the species of ixodid ticks on sheep and the pathogens carried by them in Aksu region,Xinjiang,ixodid ticks were collected from 168 sheep in 5 farms(households)for identification of species using morphological and molecular biological methods,meanwhile,Tayloria,Babesia,Anplasma and Rickettsia carried by the ticks were detected by PCR assay,and genetic evolution trees were constructed respectively.The results showed that 630 collected ticks included 504 Ixodes tularensis and 126 Ixodes microcarpus,and two species of ticks were respectively 98.30%and 99.00%similar to Kazakh sequences MN853166 and MN853167 published in GenBank;the carrying rates of Rickettsia,Tayloria,Anplasma and Babesia were 64.29%(405/630),29.52%(186/630),25.71%(162/630)and 0(0/630),respectively.The genetic evolution trees showed that Tayloria was the highest identical(99.61%)to the Iraqi strain(MN712508),both of which were located in the same branch;Rickettsia was 100%homologous with the Minfeng County strain(KU645284);Anplasma had the highest homology(99.62%)with the Spanish strain(HQ014384),both of which were located in the same branch.In conclusion,Ixodes tularensis was dominant on sheep in the region,with a risk of carrying and transmitting Rickettsia,Tayloria and Anplasma,against which,deworming of ixodid ticks and monitoring of tick-borne diseases should be strengthened.