First report on detection ofinandinand: risks of spillover ofspp. from wildlife to domestic animals.

Abstract

This study aimed to detectspp. in ticks infesting asymptomatic domestic animals and to provide insight into their potential spillover from wild to domestic animals. In total, 537 tick specimens were collected in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, and morphologically identified. The most prevalent tick species was(69; 12.8%), followed by(62; 11.5%),(58; 10.8%),(51; 9.5%),(49; 9.1%), eachand(43; 8.0%), eachand(37; 6.9%),(33; 6.1%)(30; 5.6%), and(25; 4.7%). The extracted DNA from a subset of each tick species was subjected to PCR to amplify 18S rRNA fragments ofspp. By BLAST analysis, thesp. detected ininfesting cows and ininfesting sheep showed 99.7% maximum identity with. Similarly, thesp. detected ininfesting goats shared 99.49% maximum identity with, and thesp. detected ininfesting dogs exhibited 99.7% identity with. Having an overall infection rate (9.3%; 16/172), the highest infection rate was recorded for each, and(3.5%; 6/172), followed by(2.3%; 4/172). In the phylogenetic tree,clustered with corresponding species from Iran,clustered with the same species from Croatia, Ghana, and Portugal, andclustered with the conspecifics from Iran, Israel, Romania, and Zambia. Regarding the potential spillover ofspp. from wildlife through ticks, free ranging animals was at higher risk compared to confined animals (RR = 3.05), animals consuming food from wildlife habitats were at higher risk compared to those consuming domestic food (RR = 3.06), and animals residing in farm buildings located in wildlife habitats were at higher risk compared to those residing in farm buildings located in villages (RR = 3.28). In addition to the first report oninin Pakistan, this is the earliest data showinginandinand. These preliminary findings suggest a potential spillover ofspp. from wild to domestic animals via ticks under certain risk factors.