Field survey uncovers new regional records of Hyalomma tick species on domestic animals, suggesting climate- and livestock-driven range shifts into previously unrecorded areas.
Key Points
To update the distribution of Hyalomma ticks on domestic animals in Kazakhstan using combined morphological and molecular identification methods.
Collected 137 tick specimens pooled into 47 groups from domestic animals in the Turkestan, Abai, and East Kazakhstan regions during 2024.
Identified specimens morphologically and sequenced the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (cox1) gene.
Analyzed sequences using BLAST against GenBank accessions and built phylogenetic trees via the Maximum-Likelihood method.
Morphological examination detected Hyalomma asiaticum, H. turanicum, H. dromedarii, H. rufipes, and Dermacentor marginatus.
Mitochondrial cox1 sequencing confirmed H. dromedarii, H. rufipes, and H. asiaticum with 100%, 99.8%, and 99.7% nucleotide identity to GenBank references, respectively.
Established the first molecularly verified regional records of H. dromedarii and H. rufipes in Turkestan and H. asiaticum in East Kazakhstan.