Species Diversity of Hard and Soft Ticks Parasites (Acari: Ixodidae & Argasidae) in Iran’s Provinces with a Focus on Vectors of Crimean Congo Haemorrhagic Fever Diseases

Background: Ticks are important hematophagous arthropods belonging to the class Arachnida. They transmit different groups of micro-organisms such as arboviruses, bacteria and parasites to animals and humans.Objectives: The aim of this investigate was to compile and review studies done on species diversity of hard and soft ticks parasites in Iran’s Provinces with a Focus on Vectors of Crimean Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) Diseases to assess the current knowledge and gaps.Materials and Methods: In this survey, Using the main data bases such as Web of Science, Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, Scientific Information Database (SID), Magiran and Iran Medex, using the key words: Hard and Soft Ticks, Argasidae, Ixodidae, Ticks Fauna, Geographical Distribution of Ticks, Crimean Congo Haemorrhagic Fever, Iran, Molecular Detection of CCHF, Vectors of CCHF were searched up to July 2019 and reviewing the literature. Then, the available data about the species diversity of hard and soft ticks in Iran’s Provinces with a Focus on Vectors of Crimean Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) Diseases were extracted and analyzed.Results: The overall 610 related article was found that after removing repetitive studies and studies that have examined other tick-borne diseases, 42 article were selected. Approximately, 36 soft (Argasidae) and hard (Ixodidae) tick species have been recorded from Iran that comprise: three Argas, six Ornithodoros, one Otobius, nine Hyalomma, six Haemaphysalis, four Rhipicephalus, two Dermacentor, three Ixodes and two Boophilus. In studies done so far, ticks Ornithodoros lahorensis, Hyalomma anatolicum, Hy. dromedarii, Hy. detritum, Hy. asiaticum, Hy. Schulzei, Hy.marginatus, Riphicephalus sanguineus, R. bursa, Haemaphysalis inermis, H.punctata and Dermacentor marginatus were positive for Crimean Congo Haemorrhagic Fever Virus in Iran.Conclusion: Due to the different climates and diversity of tick’s populations in Iran, determination of ticks fauna seem necessary in order to implement an integrated program thorough this country. It is worth noting that due to the high number and population diversity of ticks, monitoring of ticks-borne diseases such as CCHF and awareness of people at risk is essential in ticks control programs.

کلیدواژه ها:

Argasidae ، Ixodidae ، Ticks ، Fauna ، Crimean Congo Haemorrhagic Fever ، Species Diversity