In Uganda, the role of ticks in zoonotic disease transmission is not well described, partly, due to limited available information on tick diversity. This study aimed to identify the tick species that infest cattle. Between September and November 2017, ticks (n = 4362) were collected from 5 districts across Uganda (Kasese, Hoima, Gulu, Soroti, and Moroto) and identified morphologically at Uganda Virus Research Institute. Morphological and genetic validation was performed in Germany on representative identified specimens and on all unidentified ticks. Ticks were belonging to 15 species: 8 Rhipicephalus species (Rhipicephalus appendiculatus, Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi, Rhipicephalus microplus, Rhipicephalus decoloratus, Rhipicephalus afranicus, Rhipicephalus pulchellus, Rhipicephalus simus, and Rhipicephalus sanguineus tropical lineage); 5 Amblyomma species (Amblyomma lepidum, Amblyomma variegatum, Amblyomma cohaerens, Amblyomma gemma, and Amblyomma paulopunctatum); and 2 Hyalomma species (Hyalomma rufipes and Hyalomma truncatum). The most common species were R. appendiculatus (51.8%), A. lepidum (21.0%), A. variegatum (14.3%), R. evertsi evertsi (8.2%), and R. decoloratus (2.4%). R. afranicus is a new species recently described in South Africa and we report its presence in Uganda for the first time. The sequences of R. afranicus were 2.4% divergent from those obtained in Southern Africa. We confirm the presence of the invasive R. microplus in two districts (Soroti and Gulu). Species diversity was highest in Moroto district (p = 0.004) and geographical predominance by specific ticks was observed (p = 0.001). The study expands the knowledge on tick fauna in Uganda and demonstrates that multiple tick species with potential to transmit several tick-borne diseases including zoonotic pathogens are infesting cattle.

在乌干达，tick虫在人畜共患病传播中的作用没有得到很好的描述，部分原因是tick虫多样性的可用信息有限。这项研究旨在确定感染牛的the种。在2017年9月至2017年11月之间， 从乌干达的5个地区（Kasese，Hoima，Gulu，Soroti和Moroto）收集了（（n = 4362），并在乌干达病毒研究所进行了形态鉴定。在德国，对代表性的鉴定标本和所有未鉴定的壁虱进行了形态和遗传验证。壁虱属于15种：8种Rhipicephalus种（Rhipicephalus appendiculatus，Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi，Rhipicephalus microplus，Rhipicephalus decoloratus，Rhipicephalus afranicus，Rhipicephalus pulchellus，Rhipicephalus simus和Rhipicephalus sanguineus热带血统）；5个花蜱物种（花蜱lepidum，花蜱叶木，花蜱cohaerens，花蜱芽孢，和花蜱paulopunctatum）; 和2璃眼蜱物种（璃眼rufipes和璃眼元宝）。最常见的物种是阑尾R.（51.8％），A。lepidum（21.0％），杂色曲霉（14.3％），evertsi evertsi（8.2％）和decoloratus（2.4％）。R. afranicus是最近在南非描述的一个新物种，我们首次报道其在乌干达的存在。非洲疫霉菌的序列与在南部非洲获得的序列差异2.4％。我们确认在两个地区（Soroti和Gulu）存在侵入性R. microplus。物种多样性在Moroto区最高（p  = 0.004），并观察到特定s的地理优势（p = 0.001）。这项研究扩展了乌干达关于tick类动物的知识，并证明了可能传播几种tick类传播疾病（包括人畜共患病原体）的多种tick种正在感染牛。