Molecular Detection of Francisella tularensis Isolated from Ticks of Livestock in Kurdistan Region, Iraq.

is a Gram-negative bacterium that causes tularemia in both human and animals. Tularemia is a potential serious zoonotic disease that is transmitted by different routes, including tick bites. This study deals with investigating the prevalence of in the ticks of local animal farms in Kurdistan region since the farmers are normally in close contact with livestock. We used molecular methods for this purpose. A total of 412 tick and 126 blood samples were gathered from goat, sheep, and cow flocks. The existence of gene was examined in the samples using nested-PCR technique. In the animal blood specimens, no was found. The incidence of was 1.7% (7 out of 412) in the tick samples, representing a very lower possibility of tuleremia infection. Moreover, the two subspecies of and were identified based on the sequencing of and genes, respectively. The subsp. was isolated from four species of ticks, , and spp., whereas the subsp. was isolated from and species of ticks. Although its prevalence is very low, the isolation of subsp. from the ticks of farm animals suggests possible transmission of Tularemia through tick bite in Kurdistan region of Iraq. Ref: IR-UU-AEC-3/22.