1. Hard Ticks and Tick-borne Pathogens of Domestic and Wild Animals in Maswa and Iringa, Tanzania
You-Shine Kwak
Department of Microbiology,
Ajou University School of Medicine

2. Livestock status in Tanzania
Hard ticks
Important ectoparasites of livestock and wild animals worldwide
Carry and transfer several zoonotic pathogens(virus, bacteria and
protozoa) to humans
Tick-borne diseases
A major problem in livestock health, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa including Tanzania
Livestock status in Tanzania
Ranks third in terms of increasing livestock numbers in Africa
Cattle are the dominant livestock species (75%)
Tick-borne diseases reduce cattle productivity

3. Tanzania

4. Purpose of the Study
Morphological identification of the hard ticks collected from domestic and wild animals in Maswa and Iringa, Tanzania
Molecular identification of tick-borne pathogens in the collected hard ticks

5. Phylogeny of hard ticks

6. Morphology of hard ticks
Ticks of Domestic Animals in Africa. A.R. Walker et al. 2013

7. Life cycle of Hard Ticks

8. Main features of ticks found on domestic animals
Group
Size
Mouthparts
Other features
Genera
Group 1
Large
anterior and long
pale rings on legs
eyes present and large
Amblyomma
Hyalomma
Group 2
Medium
plain dark legs
eyes absent
Ixodes
Group 3
anterior and short
coxae 1 with paired spurs
Dermacentor
Rhipicephalus
Group 4
Small
eyes small or absent
coxae 1 with small paired
Haemaphysalis
Margaropus
Large; 6 ~ 7 mm, Medium; 3 ~ 5 mm, Small; 2 ~ 3 mm in length
Ticks of Domestic Animals in Africa. A.R. Walker et al. 2013

9. External structure of hard ticks
Ticks of Domestic Animals in Africa. A.R. Walker et al. 2013

10. Identification key of hard ticks (female) by genital aperture
Amblyomma variegatum
Amblyomma lepidum

11. Identification key of hard ticks (male) by enamel pattern of dorsal part
Amblyomma variegatum
Amblyomma gemma

12. Identification of ticks from cattle in Maswa and Iringa
Tick species
No. Ticks from cattle
Maswa (n=16)
Iringa (n=40)
Total (%)
Male
Female
Subtotal (%)
Amblyomma gemma - 1
1 (0.78) 37 7
44 (59.46)
45 (22.17)
A. lepidum 6
6 (8.11)
7 (3.45)
A. marmoreum 9
9 (12.16)
9 (4.43)
A. variegatum 96 31
127 (98.45)
8 (10.81)
135 (66.5)
Hyalomma impeltatum
2 (2.7)
2 (0.99)
Rhipicephalus pulchellus 4
5 (6.76)
5 (2.46)
Total 33
129 64 10 74
203

13. Identification of ticks collected from wild animals
Tick species
Maswa
Iringa
Total (%)
Buffalo (n=2)
Bush buck (n=1)
Buch pig (n=1)
Eland (n=1)
Leopard (n=1)
Warthog (n=1)
Zebra (n=1)
A. gemma 2 - 24
26 (26.8)
A. lepidum 26 9
35 (36.08)
A. marmoreum 1
2 (2.06)
A. variegatum
4 (4.12)
R. appendiculatus 5
5 (5.15)
R. e. evertsi
1 (1.03)
R. muhsamae 4
R. pravus
R. pulchellus 8
11 (11.34)
R. simus
Total 33 13 3 97

16. Tick-borne pathogens 1. Rickettsia sp.
Cause Typhus, African tick bite fever in human
2. Piroplasmidae 
Protozoan parasite (Babesia and Theileria sp.)
Cause febrile disease (similar to malaria),
East coast fever
3. Coxiella sp.
Gram-negative bacteria
Causes Q fever
4. Borrelia sp.
Cause Lyme disease

17. Identification of tick-borne pathogens by PCR
Genomic DNA extraction from ticks collected from animals
PCR amplification of each target genes
Sequencing analysis by BLAST search
Pathogen
Target gene
Amplicon size
Rickettsia sp.
17 kDa protein
450 bp
Piroplasmidae
18s rRNA
411 – 520 bp
Coxiella sp.
htpB
325 bp
Borrelia sp.
flaB
389 bp

18. Tick-borne pathogens identified from ticks in cattle
Tick species
Maswa cattle
Rickettsia 
(%)
Piroplasmidae
A. gemma ND
1/1
(100)
A. lepidum
0/1
A. variegatum
82/82
10/127
(7.9)
*Borrelia and Coxiella sp. were not found in the experiment.
*ND, not done

19. Tick-borne pathogens identified from ticks in cattle
Tick species
Iringa cattle
Rickettsia 
(%)
Piroplasmidae
A. gemma
30/30
(100)
3/44
(6.8)
A. lepidum
2/2
0/6
A. marmoreum ND
0/9
A. variegatum
1/8
(12.5)
H. impeltatum
0/2
R. pulchellus
0/5
*Borrelia and Coxiella sp. were not found in the experiment.
*ND, not done

20. Tick-borne pathogens identified from ticks in wild animals
Tick species
Maswa animals
Rickettsia 
(%)
Piroplasmidae
A. gemma ND
1/3
(33)
A. lepidum
32/32
(100)
3/35
(8.6)
A. variegatum
1/1
R. appendiculatus
0/5
R. muhsamae
1/4
(25)
R. pravus
R. pulchellus
0/12
R. simus
0/4
*Borrelia and Coxiella sp. were not found in the experiment.
*ND, not done

21. Tick-borne pathogens identified from ticks in wild animals
Tick species
Iringa animals
Rickettsia 
(%)
Piroplasmidae
A. gemma
9/17
(52.9)
1/24
(4.2)
R. pulchellus ND
0/1
*Borrelia and Coxiella sp. were not found in the experiment.
*ND, not done

22. Summary In Maswa and Iringa, Tanzania,
1. Amblyomma spp. was dominant hard ticks of cattle and wild animals identified by morphology.
2. Rickettsia sp. and Piroplasmidae were found in hard ticks identified by PCR and nucleotide sequencing.