Morphometric and genetic characterization of Oestrus ovis in sheep in different climatic regions of Iran

Oestrosis is nasal myiasis, which results from infestation with the larvae of flies that belong to the genus Oestrus. Nasal discharge and sneezing are the most common clinical signs in infected animals. Myiasis larvae were collected from sheep in different climatic regions of Iran. Morphological identification of the larvae was made based on the diagnostic keys. The species was confirmed by PCR amplifying the partial fragment (۶۱۰ bp) of the mtCOI gene. Genetic distance was assessed in COI sequences, and a phylogenetic tree was drawn. Sequencing showed no difference in the partial COI gene among the Iranian isolates, and this gene had a high similarity with the sequences of O. ovis isolates from Iraq, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia. The present study provided the first molecular dataset for O. ovis species, which is crucial for the phylogenetic relationships assessment and the molecular identification of these parasites.

Keywords:

Oestrus ovis , Sheeps , COI , PCR , phylogeny , Sequence