Argas persicus, fowl tick or poultry tick is a small soft-bodied tick

Tick

Ticks are small arachnids in the order Ixodida, along with mites, constitute the subclass Acarina. Ticks are ectoparasites , living by hematophagy on the blood of mammals, birds, and sometimes reptiles and amphibians...

 that is found primarily on chickens and other domestic fowl. It was first recorded by Lorenz Oken

Lorenz Oken

Lorenz Oken was a German naturalist.Oken was born Lorenz Okenfuss in Bohlsbach in Baden and studied natural history and medicine at the universities of Freiburg and Würzburg. He went on to the University of Göttingen, where he became a Privatdozent , and shortened his name to Oken...

 in 1818 in Mianeh

Mianeh, Iran

Meyaneh is a city in and the capital of Meyaneh County, East Azerbaijan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 87,385, in 22,728 families....

, Persia

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

, and named Rhynochoprion persicum.

A. persicus has a worldwide distribution in warm climates and is a carrier of avian spirochetosis in chickens.

In addition to chickens and other domestic fowl, A. persicus also feeds on humans, although an immunity has been acquired by some individuals.