Abstract
A cross-sectional study was conducted from March 2019 to February 2020 with the objective of identifying ixodid ticks and haemoparasites, in extensively managed livestock, in Alle district, Southwestern Ethiopia. The study area is assumed to be free from ticks, and there had been no diagnostic and treatment options for tick-borne diseases. Among 384 heads of cattle examined for tick infestation and haemoparasites, 139 (36.19%) were infested with one or more tick species and 25 (6.51%) were haemoparasitised. Two genera of ticks, Amblyomma and Rhipicephalus formerly (Boophilus), and four species (Amblyomma variegatum, Amblyomma lepidum, Rhipicephalus microplus, and Rhipicephalus annulatus) were identified. The haemoparasite identified was Babesia bovis. Among the risk factors, body condition score and season of the year were found to be significantly associated with tick infestation with x2 = 9.919, p > 0.05 and x2 = 6.216, p > 0.05, respectively, at 95% CI. Tick infestation was found to be significantly associated with haemoparasitemia with x2 = 22.2 and p > 0.05, at 95% CI. The finding of the current study is an alarm ring, as the veterinary service had been not considering any haemoparasitemia in the potential list of differential diagnosis and no treatment inputs have been availed for that purpose. Thus, it is recommended that the veterinary service delivery system in the area should take haemoparasites diagnosis and avail treatment alternatives, particularly tick-borne diseases. Furthermore, there should be a strategical approach in controlling tick-borne diseases in the area before the tick-borne diseases get prevalent and where the control after high prevalence could not be easy in extensive livestock management.
Highlights
Ethiopia possess huge number of livestock populations with an estimated 57.83 million cattle, 29.33 millions of sheep, 29.11 millions of goats, 1.16 million of camels, 9.86 millions of equines, and 56.87 millions of chickens which represent an immense economic potential [1]
Ticks from each animal were collected and placed in separate prelabeled universal bottles containing 10% formalin solution until identification.Date of collection, age of animal, sex of animal, body condition score (BCS), and season of the year were recorded as well. e age of animals was grouped as young and adults (>3 years) according to the classification method used by [33], while body condition scores of animals were evaluated during sample collection. ey were classified as emaciated, moderate, and good based on anatomical parts and the flesh and fat cover at different body parts [34]
Among 384 cattle examined for tick infestation, 139 (36.19%) were infested with ticks
Summary
Ethiopia possess huge number of livestock populations with an estimated 57.83 million cattle, 29.33 millions of sheep, 29.11 millions of goats, 1.16 million of camels, 9.86 millions of equines, and 56.87 millions of chickens which represent an immense economic potential [1]. According to [8], ticks which are considered to be the most important to Veterinary Medicine International the health of domestic animal in Africa comprise about seven genera Among these genera, the main tick genera found in Ethiopia includes Amblyomma, subgenus Rhipicephalus (Boophilus), Haemaphysalis, Hyalomma, and Rhipicephalus. In Ethiopia, there are 47 species of ticks found on livestock and most of them have importance as vector and disease-causing agents and have a damaging effect on the skin and hide production as reviewed by [10]. Due to economic and veterinary importance of ticks, their control and transmission of tick-borne diseases remain a challenge for the cattle industry of the world, and it is priority for many countries in tropical and subtropical regions [25]. There were no diagnostic and treatment approaches in place even to detect whether there is a problem or not. erefore, the current study was aimed to investigate cattle ixodid ticks and tickborne haemoparasite in Alle district
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