Distribution and abundance of Hemolivia mauritanica (Apicomplexa: Haemogregarinidae) and its vector Hyalomma aegyptium in tortoises of Iran

Abstract

Distribution pattern, prevalence and intensity of parasitaemia of heteroxenous apicomplexan blood parasite Hemolivia mauritanica and its vector tick Hyalomma aegyptium have been studied in 264 tortoises (212 Testudo graeca and 52 T. horsfieldii) throughout the Iranian territory. In T. graeca the highest prevalence and intensity of parasitaemia for H. mauritanica were recorded in the temperate mid and northern parts of the Iranian plateau, while the lowest values were found in the arid central part of Iran. No Hemolivia-positive samples were found in T. horsfieldii. Hyalomma aegyptium ticks were diagnosed in both tortoise species. The highest prevalence and intensity of infestation with H. aegyptium were recorded in western part of Iran, where climatic conditions are not so arid compared to central and eastern parts. No significant differences were found in intensity of parasitaemia of H. mauritanica between males and females. Similarly, no differences in intensity of parasitaemia were detected between different age groups (adults; more than 10 years, young; 5-10 years and juveniles; less that 5 years). Prevalence of H. mauritanica and H. aegyptium in adults was higher than in young and in juveniles. While intensity of infestation with H. aegyptium was significantly higher in adult tortoises compare to juveniles, no significant difference were found between intensity of H. aegyptium infestation in male and female tortoises.

Molecular Evidence of Hemolivia mauritanica, Ehrlichia spp. and the Endosymbiont Candidatus Midichloria Mitochondrii in Hyalomma aegyptium Infesting Testudo graeca Tortoises from Doha, Qatar

“…Hemolivia mauritanica is a pathogen of tortoises and has H. aegyptium as the definitive host [ 11 ]. The results obtained in this study are in accordance with previous prevalence levels from Lebanon (38%), Algeria (30.4%) and Bulgaria (14%), but are much lower when compared with results observed in Turkey (82%), Romania (84%), Syria (82%) and Greece (81%) [ 32 ].…”

The dependence of Hyalomma aegyptium on its tortoise host Testudo graeca in Algeria

“…Despite the high variation in environmental factors among the studied localities, no significant relationships were observed between the climatic parameters investigated, and infestation intensity and prevalence, respectively. Previous studies have shown that low humidity may be a key factor limiting H. aegyptium distribution (Široký et al ., ; Javanbakht et al ., ). However, the present study found a significant and positive relationship between the intensity of tick infestation and the density of the tortoise population, indicating that ticks tend to concentrate their questing efforts wherever their food (hosts) is most abundant (Godfrey et al ., ).…”

“…The detected mean intensity of infestation (9.4) at Djelfa is among the highest yet encountered among T. graeca , whereas intensities at the remaining three studied localities (1.7–5.9) were comparable with available data from Jordan [0.2–5.9 (Petney & Al‐Yaman, )], Russia [5.2 (Robbins et al ., )], the Balkans [1.3 (Široký et al ., )], Italy [3.9 on tortoises imported from North Africa (Brianti et al ., )] and Tunisia [4.3 (Gharbi et al ., )]. To date, the highest infestations among Testudo tortoises were recorded in some Iranian localities in T. graeca [locally up to 21.0 ± 8.1 (Javanbakht et al ., )] and in Greece in T. marginata [17.2 ± 7.7 adult H. aegyptium per tortoise (Široký et al ., )]. However, these data may be skewed by the small sample size at the Iranian localities or influenced by the relatively large size of the T. marginata host.…”

Diversity of microorganisms in Hyalomma aegyptium collected from spur‐thighed tortoise ( Testudo graeca ) in North Africa and Anatolia

“…Prevalence is highly variable along its distribution range, although in general, values are higher in the eastern range decreasing toward the western and south (Široký et al., 2009). The highest prevalence has been reported in Romania (84%; Široký et al., 2009) and Iran (100%; Javanbakht et al., 2015). Regarding North Africa and Anatolia, prevalence reported include 51.9% in Turkey (Akveran et al., 2020) and between 6.25‐30.4% in Algeria (Široký et al., 2009; Tiar et al., 2010), while there are no positive reports in Morocco or Tunisia (Harris et al., 2013; Laghzaoui et al., 2020; Široký et al., 2009).…”