Determination of Ticks Removed From Patients Application to Health Facilities with Complaints of Tick Attachment in The Province of Kastamonu

Ticks, which threaten human and animal health in the world and in Turkey, can act as mechanical and biological vectors for bacterial, viral, protozoan, rickettsial, spirochetal and helminth disease agents. In this study, it was aimed to morphologically examine the ticks removed from patients complaining of tick bite in Kastamonu province and make species identification. The study material consisted of ticks collected from 134 patients who applied to health institutions in Kastamonu province due to tick bites between May 2022 and August 2022. It was determined that 61.2 % of the ticks collected in the study were Ixodes ricinus, 18.7 % were Dermacentor marginatus, 6 % were Haemaphysalis parva, 5.2 % were Hyalomma marginatum, 3.7 % were Haemaphysalis punctata, and 2.2 % were Rhipicephalus bursa. As a result, it is thought that our study can contribute to science by determining the cases of tick attachment to humans in the Kastamonu region and the species identification of attached ticks, but more comprehensive research will be useful and will contribute to new studies on the species distribution of ticks and diseases transmitted by ticks in Kastamonu and its neighboring provinces.