Tick-borne pathogens and their vectors in Kazakhstan - A review.

Tick-borne diseases (TBDs), in particular Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) and tick-borne encephalitis (TBE), have been found to be expanding beyond their traditional geographic locations in Kazakhstan, which led to increased awareness and concern against TBDs in recent years. The tick fauna of Kazakhstan includes more than 30 species of human-biting ixodid ticks, recognized as carriers of a number of dangerous infectious pathogens that cause CCHF, TBE, tularemia, tick-borne rickettsioses and Lyme borreliosis. This paper presents the current knowledge of the main vectors of tick-borne pathogens (TBP) occurring in Kazakhstan, as well as a review of recent studies of ticks performed with the use of molecular methods being currently developed and widely utilized by Kazakh epidemiologists.