About the Authors

Suheir Ereqat

sereqat@staff.alquds.edu

Affiliations Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Quds University, Abu Deis, the West Bank, Palestinian territories, Al-Quds Public Health Society, Jerusalem, Palestinian territories

Abedelmajeed Nasereddin

Affiliation Al-Quds Public Health Society, Jerusalem, Palestinian territories

Amer Al-Jawabreh

Affiliations Al-Quds Public Health Society, Jerusalem, Palestinian territories, Arab American University, Jenin, Palestine

Kifaya Azmi

Affiliations Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Quds University, Abu Deis, the West Bank, Palestinian territories, Al-Quds Public Health Society, Jerusalem, Palestinian territories

Shimon Harrus

Affiliation Koret School of Veterinary Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel

Kosta Mumcuoglu

Affiliation Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, The Hebrew University - The Kuvin Center for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel

Dimtry Apanaskevich

Affiliation United States National Tick Collection, Institute for Coastal Plain Science, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia, United States of America

Ziad Abdeen

Affiliation Al-Quds Public Health Society, Jerusalem, Palestinian territories

Competing Interests

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: SE ZA SH. Performed the experiments: SE AN. Analyzed the data: SE AN AAJ. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: ZA. Wrote the paper: SE. Identified ticks: KM DA. Revised and edited the paper: ZA KA DA KM AN AAJ SH.