Abstract
BackgroundThe southern cattle fever tick (SCFT), Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus, remains endemic in Puerto Rico. Systematic treatment programmes greatly reduced and even eradicated temporarily this tick from the island. However, a systemic treatment programme that includes integrated management practices for livestock against SCFT remains to be established in the island. We describe a spatially-explicit, individual-based model that simulates climate–livestock–SCFT–landscape interactions. This model was developed as an investigative tool to aid in a research project on integrated management of the SCFT that took place in Puerto Rico between 2014 and 2017. We used the model to assess the efficacy of tick suppression and probability of tick elimination when applying safer acaricides at 3-week intervals to different proportions of a herd of non-lactating dairy cattle.ResultsProbabilities of eliminating host-seeking larvae from the simulated system decreased from ≈ 1 to ≈ 0 as the percentage of cattle treated decreased from 65 to 45, with elimination probabilities ≈ 1 at higher treatment percentages and ≈ 0 at lower treatment percentages. For treatment percentages between 65% and 45%, a more rapid decline in elimination probabilities was predicted by the version of the model that produced higher densities of host-seeking larvae. Number of weeks after the first acaricide application to elimination of host-seeking larvae was variable among replicate simulations within treatment percentages, with within-treatment variation increasing markedly at treatment percentages ≤ 65. Number of weeks after first application to elimination generally varied between 30 and 40 weeks for those treatment percentages with elimination probabilities ≈ 1.ConclusionsExplicit simulation of the spatial and temporal dynamics of off-host (host-seeking) larvae in response to control methods should be an essential element of research that involves the evaluation of integrated SCFT management programmes. This approach could provide the basis to evaluate novel control technologies and to develop protocols for their cost-effective use with other treatment methods.
Highlights
The southern cattle fever tick (SCFT), Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus, remains endemic in Puerto Rico
The model simulates the effects of climate variation, habitat heterogeneity, and acaricide applications to non-lactating dairy cattle on the life cycle of the southern cattle tick in Puerto Rico (Fig. 1)
Explicit simulation of the spatial and temporal dynamics of off-host SCFT larvae in response to control methods should be an essential element in the evaluation of tick management technologies
Summary
The southern cattle fever tick (SCFT), Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus, remains endemic in Puerto Rico. We describe a spatially-explicit, individual-based model that simulates climate–livestock–SCFT–landscape interactions This model was developed as an investigative tool to aid in a research project on integrated management of the SCFT that took place in Puerto Rico between 2014 and 2017. A significant impediment to optimizing animal health and production in dairy systems is the southern cattle fever tick (SCFT), Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus. Losses in 2000 due to R. microplus infestations, bovine anaplasmosis, and bovine babesiosis were estimated at US $6.7 million [4]. Both production losses and costs of control threaten the economic stability of these enterprises
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