Abstract
BackgroundTicks and tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) represent a significant economic burden to cattle farming in sub-Saharan Africa including Nigeria. However, in the northern part of this country, where the largest livestock population resides, little is known about the contemporary diversity of ticks and TBPs. This area is particularly vulnerable to climate change, undergoing marked transformation of habitat and associated flora and fauna that is also likely to include ticks. This study aimed to document the occurrence of tick species and Apicomplexan TBPs in cattle from north-western Nigeria.MethodsIn 2017, ticks were collected from cattle in Zamfara and Sokoto States and identified morphologically. Additionally, a subset of ticks was screened molecularly for the detection of apicomplexan DNA.ResultsA total of 494 adult ticks were collected from 80 cattle in Zamfara and 65 cattle in Sokoto State. Nine tick species were encountered, among which the presence of one, Hyalomma turanicum, had not previously been recorded in Nigeria. Hyalomma rufipes was the most prevalent tick infesting cattle in Zamfara State (76%), while Hyalomma dromedarii was the most prevalent in Sokoto State (44%), confirming the widespread transfer of this species from camels onto livestock and its adaptation to cattle in the region. Of 159 ticks screened, 2 out of 54 (3.7%) from Zamfara State and 29 out of 105 (27.6%) from Sokoto State harboured DNA of Theileria annulata, the agent of tropical theileriosis.ConclusionsThis study confirms the presence of a broad diversity of tick species in cattle from north-western Nigeria, providing the first locality records for Zamfara State. The occurrence of H. turanicum indicates a distribution of this tick beyond northern Africa. This study provides the first report for T. annulata in Nigerian ticks. Given its enormous burden on livestock farming in north Africa and across Asia, further investigations are needed to better understand its epidemiology, vector transmission and potential clinical significance in cattle from northern Nigeria and neighbouring Sahelian countries.Graphical abstract
Highlights
Ticks and tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) represent a significant economic burden to cattle farming in sub-Saharan Africa including Nigeria
Indirect adverse consequences of tick infestation in cattle are linked to the conditions that are caused by the plethora of tick-borne pathogens (TBPs), including mostly protozoa and bacteria, and helminths, viruses and fungi, some of which are of zoonotic importance [1,2,3,4]
Five species were present in Sokoto, namely H. dromedarii, H. impeltatum, H. truncatum, H. impressum and H. rufipes (Table 2)
Summary
Ticks and tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) represent a significant economic burden to cattle farming in sub-Saharan Africa including Nigeria. Ticks represent a significant economic burden to cattle farming and, overall, the development of the livestock sector in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) [1,2,3]. Their significance is due to the impairment they cause to livestock productivity, attributable to both the direct and indirect. Indirect adverse consequences of tick infestation in cattle are linked to the conditions that are caused by the plethora of tick-borne pathogens (TBPs), including mostly protozoa and bacteria, and helminths, viruses and fungi, some of which are of zoonotic importance [1,2,3,4]. The majority of studies on TBPs in Nigeria, detecting the presence of apicomplexan parasites belonging to the genera Theileria and Babesia and members of the bacterial genera Anaplasma, Ehrlichia, Rickettsia and Coxiella, have mostly relied on cytological (i.e. microscopical examination of blood smears and biopsies) [22,23,24,25,26,27] and serological approaches (e.g. ELISA and immunofluorescence assays) [25, 28,29,30,31] and only in a few, recent instances on the molecular screening of bovine blood [32,33,34] and ticks [35, 36]
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