Abstract
Five species of ixodid ticks were found in a cross-sectional survey in which 200 sheep were examined for ticks in River Nile Province, Sudan. Hyalomma anatolicum anatolicum was the predominant species (73.6%), whereas ticks belonging to the Rhipicephalus sanguineus group (14.7%), Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi (9.1%), Rhipicephalus simus (2%) and Hyalomma dromedarii (0.5%) were also found. The mean tick load was 11.2 per animal. In a subsequent longitudinal survey ticks were collected on a monthly basis from eight sentinel sheep that were introduced into the area. It was found that H. a. anatolicum almost disappeared during the hot period between April and August, whereas it's highest numbers were present in winter between November and February. It is concluded that there is only one generation of H. a. anatolicum per year, which may explain the year-round appearance of clinical cases of malignant ovine theileriosis indicating endemic instability of this disease in River Nile Province.
Highlights
Faculty of Education, Nile Valley University, P.O
Hyalomma a. anatolicum was found on 59.5 % of the animals examined, whereas R. sanguineus group, R. e. evertsi and R. simus were found on 24 %, 31.5 % and 15.5 % of the animals, respectively
Thirty-five species of ticks are known to infest sheep and goats in the Sudan (Osman 1997)
Summary
Faculty of Education, Nile Valley University, P.O. Box 136 Atbara, SudanCentral Veterinary Research Laboratories, P.O. Faculty of Education, Nile Valley University, P.O. Box 136 Atbara, Sudan. They are usually raised as small mixed flocks along the Nile River and the banks of the seasonal Atbara River. River Nile Province is part of the so-called diseasefree zone of northern Sudan, where major contagious diseases such as peste des petits ruminants, sheep pox, and foot-and-mouth disease are rare. The area is used for fattening sheep and as a quarantine of animals for export before they are shipped to neighbouring countries. Very little work has been carried out on the ticks infesting small ruminants in the Sudan (Osman 1997). We conducted the present study to shed some light on the tick fauna in this part of the country
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