Abstract
One-humped camels (Camelus dromedarius) are important source of meat, milk and leather production for humans in southern Algeria. Camel livestock farming is confronted with several obstacles, including abortive diseases which can be transmitted mainly by ticks. The study was carried out in Ouargla region, South Algeria, between January and December 2017. The objective of this study was to identify ticks in camels and to study the relationship between camel abortion rate and the presence of different species of ticks. A total of 350 camels (including 171 males and 179 females) was used in this study. Ticks were searched on the entire camel body (head, neck, hump, abdomen, forelegs, back legs, and tail area). Results showed that 215/350 (61.4%) camels were infested by ticks including 137/171 (80.1%) and 78/179 (43.6%) males and females, respectively. A total of 46/179 (25.7%) camel females had aborted and all these were revealed infested by ticks. A total of 298 ticks was collected including the following species Hyalomma dromedarii (90.9%), Hyalomma impeltatum (5.37%) and for the first time in Algeria, Amblyomma variegatum (2.35%) and Rhipicephalus turanicus (1.34%). H. dromedarii was the most frequent (p<0.001). The study showed that the dromedary was highly infested by ticks. The presence of ticks in all aborted female camels certainly indicates their important role in one-humped camel abortions in Algeria. The identification of tick-borne abortive agents in camels is important in order to establish an effective abortion control plan.
Highlights
Ticks are a worldwide major group of arthropod vectors that can transmit different types of pathogens with impact on human and animal health
Camel male was almost five times (OR=5.22) more likely to be infested by ticks than female camel (Table 1)
A number of 46/179 (25.7%) female camels have aborted and all of them 100% were infested by ticks
Summary
Ticks are a worldwide major group of arthropod vectors that can transmit different types of pathogens with impact on human and animal health. They may be observed in highly varied habitats, from the driest to the most humid [1]. Tick-borne pathogens that can cause abortion include Coxiella burnetii [9,10], Theileria [11] and Anaplasma [12,13,14]. Ticks are the most important vectors of vector-borne abortive diseases in terms of animal health [1,36]. In Algeria, the total number of camels was estimated at 344 015 with majority of them is in the Sahara Desert [15]
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