Abstract
BackgroundRhipicephalus microplus, an invasive tick species of Asian origin and the main vector of Babesia species, is considered one of the most widespread ectoparasites of livestock. The tick has spread from its native habitats on translocated livestock to large parts of the tropical world, where it has replaced some of the local populations of Rhipicephalus decoloratus ticks. Although the tick was reported in Uganda 70 years ago, it has not been found in any subsequent surveys. This study was carried out to update the national tick species distribution on livestock in Uganda as a basis for tick and tick-borne disease control, with particular reference to R. microplus.MethodsThe study was carried out in Kadungulu, Serere district, south-eastern Uganda, which is dominated by small scale livestock producers. All the ticks collected from 240 cattle from six villages were identified microscopically. Five R. microplus specimens were further processed for phylogenetic analysis and species confirmation.ResultsThe predominant tick species found on cattle was Rhipicephalus appendiculatus (86.9 %; n = 16,509). Other species found were Amblyomma variegatum (7.2 %; n = 1377), Rhipicephalus evertsi (2.3 %; n = 434) and R. microplus (3.6 %; n = 687). Phylogenetic analysis of the 12S rRNA, 16S rRNA and ITS2 gene sequences of R. microplus confirmed the morphological identification.ConclusionsIt is concluded that R. microplus has replaced R. decoloratus in the sampled villages in Kadungulu sub-county, since the latter was not any longer found in this area. There is currently no livestock movement policy in force in Uganda, which could possibly limit the further spread of R. microplus ticks. Future surveys, but also retrospective surveys of museum specimens, will reveal the extent of distribution of R. microplus in Uganda and also for how long this tick has been present on livestock without being noticed.
Highlights
Rhipicephalus microplus, an invasive tick species of Asian origin and the main vector of Babesia species, is considered one of the most widespread ectoparasites of livestock
Serere district was selected because it has a large number of small scale livestock producers (1–50 cattle per herd) whose potential to commercialise livestock production is primarily constrained by ticks and tick-borne diseases
Female R. microplus was characterized by hypostome teeth in a typical 4 + 4 column arrangement and internal margin palpal article 1 lacking protuberance and distinctly concave
Summary
Rhipicephalus microplus, an invasive tick species of Asian origin and the main vector of Babesia species, is considered one of the most widespread ectoparasites of livestock. The tick has spread from its native habitats on translocated livestock to large parts of the tropical world, where it has replaced some of the local populations of Rhipicephalus decoloratus ticks. The Asian blue tick, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus (Canestrini, 1888), is one of the most important tick species infesting livestock in many parts of the world [1]. It has spread to Burkina Faso, Mali, Togo and very recently into Nigeria and Cameroon [3, 8,9,10,11,12] This species is well established in the southern and eastern fringes of South Africa [2, 7]. Displacement of local R. decoloratus populations in the countries where R. microplus was introduced could have resulted from the faster life-cycle of R. microplus, sterile off-spring of interspecific mating [2] or because of the higher degree of acaricide resistance of R. microplus [2]
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