Identification and genetic diversity of ticks in local sheep in Samarra city, northern of Baghdad, Iraq

This study reported hard tick (Ixodida: Ixodidae) infestation in sheep in Samara city, north of Baghdad, from June to December 2023. A total of 480 ticks were manually pulled out from the sheep with an ethanol-soaked tissue and preserved in plastic containers containing 70% ethyl alcohol. All samples were counted and examined individually under a light microscope to identify the genus. Preliminary microscopic examination revealed that the majority of the collected ticks were Hyalomma, with 91.4%, followed by Rhipicephalus (6.8%) and Ixodes (1.8%). Furthermore, Hyalomma was dominant across all months, with a peak relative abundance in October (100%). The peak relative abundances for Rhipicephlus (16%) and Ixodes (4.3%) occurred in July. Under further microscopic evaluation, morphological features demonstrated three species, namely, Hyalomma detritum (Koch), Hy. anatolicum (Koch) and Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato (Latreille). To confirm genera and species, molecular diagnosis was pe..., Ethics. This project was approved by the ethical committee (ACUC) at the University of Baghdad (No.1667 on 22/03/2023).          
Study area. Samarra is a city in Salah Adin province, 120 km north of Baghdad. The city is bordered in the North-East by Diyala province, which shares borders with Iran (Figure 1). This study was conducted mainly in open farm areas in Samarra villages, where these areas are open to domestic and wild animals. Most of the farms lie at the border with Diyala province. The weather in this city is a typical desert climate, where it is extremely hot-dry in summer, and cold and dry to moderately wet in winter. The temperature ranges from 0°C on winter nights to over 50°C on summer days.
Parasite samples. Four hundred and eighty tick samples were obtained from more than 150 naturally infested, al-Awassi breed of sheep, from multiple farms in Samarra city (Figure 1). Sheep were thoroughly investigated for ticks during ..., # Data from: Identification and genetic diversity of ticks in local sheep in Samarra city, north of Baghdad, Iraq

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.7h44j1073](10.5061/dryad.7h44j1073)

**Description of the data and file structure**

#### File Structure

#### Input Files

**File:** **TicksRawData2.xlsx**

**Description:** Input file used for the number, genera, and species of ticks and sheep, and which tick infects which sheep.

* Sheep ID: This is the unique identifier assigned to the sheep sampled.

- Tick ID: ticks IDs that were collected from this sheep.

* Tick_Species: The ticks collected belong to the respective genus.

- Date_Collected: The samples were collected.

* Location: The sampling took place in a location referred.

- Sheep_Age: The sheep is either young or adult.

* Sheep_Sex: Male or Female.

- Infection_Status: whether the sheep was found to be infested with ticks.

* Notes: Additional note stating that the sheep belongs to which local breed.

The following files are prov...,