Abstract
A cross sectional study was conducted on the identification and prevalence estimation of cattle tick species in selected areas of Harari Regional State from December 2015 to April 2016 with a total number of 384 cattle. Adult ticks were collected from main body regions of cattle which were kept under extensive management system and then transported to the parasitology laboratory of College of veterinary medicine, Haramaya University for identification. Out of the total 384 cattle examined, 229 (59.6%) were found to be infested by one or more tick species. In this study, 1201 adult ticks were collected and identified to genera level. Four tick genera (<i>Amblyomma, Rhipicephalus, Boophilus and Hyalomma</i>) were identified. The highest tick prevalence recorded was <i>Amblyoma</i> with a prevalence of 38.5 (n=462) followed by <i>Rhipicephalus</i> recording 29.9 (n=356) prevalence. The prevalence of tick infestation was found to be statistically significant (P= 0.032) among the age groups, with highest prevalence in adult than young animals. In female animals higher tick prevalence was obtained than male animals in the study area with no statistical significant difference. Special attention should be given to the control and prevention of ticks in the study area.
Highlights
Ethiopia have a huge number of live stock population having an estimated number of 53 million cattle, 55.51 million small ruminants, more than 1 million camels, 4.5 million equines and 40 million chickens respectively [5], which plays a significant role in the socio-economic life of the people
The prevalence of tick infestation in the present study revealed that the occurrence of tick in both sex of animals were not significantly different (p> 0.05) (Table 3)
This study revealed that ixodid ticks are widespread and most significant external parasites of cattle in the area with an overall 59.6% prevalence that were found to be infested with at least a single tick or more
Summary
Ethiopia have a huge number of live stock population having an estimated number of 53 million cattle, 55.51 million small ruminants, more than 1 million camels, 4.5 million equines and 40 million chickens respectively [5], which plays a significant role in the socio-economic life of the people. In Ethiopia ticks are directly or indirectly involved in causing considerable financial losses to livestock industry accounts for 75% of the animal exports [24]. It is estimated about 1 million birr loss annually through rejection and down-grading of hides and skins in the country [9]. Ticks are common in all agro ecological zones of the country In contrast to this huge economic loss caused by ticks, some of the owners neglect ticks as animal health problem, most of them have little knowledge about effect of tick on their animals and few know diseases transmitted to domestic animals by ticks [1]
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