Identification of prevalent tick species in the goat population of West Bengal state of India

Ticks are major ectoparasites of domestic animals, including small ruminants, and are responsible for the transmission of several tick-borne diseases. They can also damage hides, induce anemia, and cause tick paralysis. A study was conducted to investigate and identify ticks infesting goats from five districts in West Bengal, India. Ticks were collected from the bodies of goats in five districts of West Bengal. The two tick species that were collected were first identified based on morphological analysis as Haemaphysalis bispinosa and Hyalomma kumari. The mitochondrial 16S rRNA sequences of the ticks were also amplified using gene-specific primers. The lengths of the amplified 16S rRNA sequences of H. bispinosa and H. kumari ticks were 456 bp and 457 bp, respectively. The amplified fragments were sequenced and aligned with other sequences using NCBI BLAST. This further confirmed the results of the morphological analysis, as the two sequences were perfectly aligned with the H. bispinosa and H. kumari gene sequences. Phylogenetic analysis of gene sequences was performed using sequences similar to those found in the NCBI database. A regression model to determine the effects of age, sex, and season on the prevalence of tick infestation in goats was also tested on the collected data using Jamovi 2.5.3. Only two tick species, Haemaphysalis bispinosa and Hyalomma kumari, were found on the ears of goats, and infestation was significantly affected by variations in age and season.