The Huge Risks Due to Hyalomma Ticks

Abstract

Traditional tick taxonomy based on morphological characters is recently challenged by data generated from DNA analysis and several revisions in tick families have been proposed accordingly. Thus, names of some tick genera and their taxonomic positions have changed, species moved from one rank to another, while other names were invalidated. In this chapter, we update the genus Hyalomma species names as compiled from recent re-descriptions of species and tick reviews up to year 2011. Hyalomma species are known vectors of large numbers of parasites and pathogens transmitted to humans and livestock in different parts of the world making these ticks the economically most important ixodids.