There is paucity of information about ticks and tick-borne pathogens in wild carnivores in Iran. This study aimed to examine ticks and tissues of wild canids, felids and mustelids in different geographical regions of the country. From December 2016 to May 2022, ixodid ticks, blood, spleen and milk specimens were collected from 38 road-killed wild carnivores i.e., 19 red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), 15 golden jackals (Canis aureus), one wild cat (Felis chaus), one marbled polecat (Vormela peregusna), one beech Marten (Martes foina) and one European badger (Meles meles). The animals were examined in the west (Hamedan, Kermanshah, Lorestan) and southeast (Kerman and sistan-and-baluchestan) of Iran. Totally 120 ticks were identified morphologically as Rhipicephalus turnicus (n = 58), Rhipicephalus sanguineus (n = 15), Heamaphysalis erinacei (n = 31), Hyalomma anatolicum (n = 1), Ixodes canisuga (n = 13), in addition to one Rhipicephalus spp. Larvae and an unidentified larva. Genomic DNA was extracted from all of the collected specimens and tested for Hepatozoon, Babesia, filarid nematodes, Trypanosoma, Anaplasma, Ehrlichia, Rickettsia, heamotropic Mycoplasma and Bartonella by conventional PCR. Preliminary results show the presence of the DNA of all tested pathogens except filarial nematodes in ticks and/or tissues of all six carnivore species. Infection of wild carnivores and Their ticks with vector-borne pathogens some of which being zoonotic agents shows that wildlife populations in the country have an underestimate role in the epidemiology of animals and possibly human infections.
