Estimate of hard ticks parasitizing herbivorous animals in the northern Albania

Abstract

Hard ticks are arthropods of the class Arachnida. They are vectors of many pathogens causing diseases not only in wild animals but also in farm animals and humans. The aim of the study was to collect and then identify hard ticks in farm and grazing animals of northern part of Albania, in the areas covered by the Regional Directorate of Veterinary and Plant Protection Shkodra, which includes the districts of Shkodra, Kukës and Lezhë. A total of 639 samples were collected and identified during their two typical seasons, 311 ticks were found on sheep, 98 on cattle’s, 79 on goats and 151 ticks on equines. In the whole region, five tick genera were identified, with the most widespread being Rhipicephalus, followed by Hyalomma, Ixodes, Haemaphysalis and Dermacentor. Among many species of hard ticks collected, resulted that 13 species of them parasitize herbivorous animals of the area. These data confirms the presence of all species previously mentioned and reported by literature in Albania. However, their importance resides in their capacity to transmit a multitude of microbial and parasitic disease-causing agents. All hard tick species names reported in these work were recently updated by the latest parasitology literature. We also systematically revised and analyzed the current situation in the study region and highlighted future research priorities to encourage further and deeper studies on this topic and raise awareness among parasitology, veterinary and biochemistry.