Abstract
The study was conducted from October 2014 to June 2015 to estimate tick prevalence and identify major tick genera infesting cattle and the associated risk factors in Arbegona district, southern Ethiopia. A total of 2024 adult ticks were collected from main body parts of animals and eight species of ticks which belong to three genera were identified. Questionnaire survey was employed concerning the general case on the tick infestation problems on the cattle. From 384 cattle examined, 291 (75.7%) were found to be infested with one or more types of tick species. The relative prevalence of each genera was Amblyomma (34.9%), Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) (26.6%), Hyalomma (19.2%), and Rhipicephalus (19%). The prevalence of tick infestation in good (65.5%), medium (74%), and poor body condition animal (100%) was found to be statistically significant (p < 0.05). There was also significantly (p < 0.05) higher prevalence in old (98.4%) than adult (78.8%) and young (59.8%) age groups of animals. In the survey, 87.5% of respondents believe that there was tick infestation problem in their locality. This study showed there was high burden and prevalence of ticks that still play major roles in reducing productivity and cause health problems of cattle in the area which call for urgent attention.
Highlights
Ethiopia has Africa’s largest livestock record with an estimated total cattle population of 57.83 million [1]
Arbegona district belongs to the southern Ethiopia high land and it is mainly characterized by two agro ecological zones
The high overall prevalence of tick infestation in cattle was recorded by other authors such as Regassa [8] and Ayalew et al [18] in the eastern and central part of Oromia, respectively
Summary
Ethiopia has Africa’s largest livestock record with an estimated total cattle population of 57.83 million [1]. Livestock has been contributing to the livelihoods of estimated 80% of the rural human population of the country [2]. The current utilization of hides and skins is estimated to be 48% for cattle which accounts for 12–16% of the total value of exports in the country [3]. The contribution from this huge livestock resource to the national income of the country is disproportionately small due to several factors. A conservative estimate of USD 45,269.35 (1 million ETB) loss annually was made through rejection and downgrading of hides and skins in Ethiopia [5, 6]
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