Isolation and identification of tick borne bacterial pathogens in Turkey and Iraq

The aim of this study was to detect the pathogenic bacteria from hard ticks collected from animals and soil in Turkey and Iraq. For this, 195 adult hard ticks were identified according to the taxonomic keys. A total of 195 hard ticks were identified by as 149 Hyalomma spp. and 46 Rhipicephalus spp. The diagnosis of tick borne pathogens was made by microbiological techniques. One hundred sixty four (164) bacteria were isolated from the ticks. These bacteria were as follows: 119 Escherichia coli, 18 Salmonella spp., 10 Klebsiella spp., 9 Serratia spp., 6 Shigella spp., and 2 Enerobacter aerogenes. The study investigated tick borne pathogens affecting humans and animals. These pathogens are transmitted by different hard ticks’ species. The ticks and tick borne diseases are an important public health problem in the world. Key words: Hard ticks, Hyalomma species, Rhipicephalus species, tick borne pathogens.