Current Status of Tick Fauna in North of Iran

Background: the distribution and ecological preferences of ticks of domestic animals in north of iran werestudied four times a year from 2002 to 2005.methods: a total of 1720 tick specimens were collected from cattle, sheep and goats from different localitiesof caspian sea areas consisting of guilan, mazandaran, golestan and ardebil provinces, iran.results: fourteen tick species were identified as hyalomma anatolicum anatolicum (5.23%), h.marginatum(20.34%), h.detritum (3.48%), haemaphysalis punctata (12.79%), haem. parva (0.58%), haem.concinna(0.58%), haem.choldokovsky (6.97%), ixodes ricinus (2.32%), rhipicephalus sanguineus (19.76%), rh.bursa(4.65%), boophilus annulatus (9.88%), dermacentor niveus (6.39%), d. marginatus (1.74%) and ornithodoroslahorensis (5.23%). both dermacentor and ornithodoros were found only in ardebil with cold climaticconditions and high altitude. the only ticks, which were found in forest area, were boophilus annulatusand ixodes ricinus.conclusion: the veterinary and public health importance of the above species should be emphasized.