Abstract
Corridor disease, transmitted by the brown ear tick (Rhipicephalus appendiculatus), is one of Africa's most pathogenic tick-borne diseases for cattle. With a focus on this species, we investigated the community parameters (richness, diversity and abundance) of ticks in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, and how this may be linked to the increasing wildlife/cattle interface in the region. There were significantly more ticks of a greater diversity and richness at sites positioned at the wildlife/cattle interface ('treatment sites') compared to sites where wildlife was absent (controls). Significantly, R. appendiculatus was only found at the treatment sites. Therefore, it is believed that the wildlife/cattle interface may be playing a crucial role in increasing the occurrence, abundance and distribution of R. appendiculatus in the Eastern Cape. The implications of a Corridor disease outbreak in the region are discussed.
Highlights
Ticks and their associated diseases are a major constraint to livestock farming throughout the world but in Africa where socioeconomic factors govern the extent to which livestock farmers can control ticks[15,17]
The overall aims of this study were: 1) to provide baseline data on the species diversity, abundance and richness of tick populations in areas at wildlife/cattle interfaces compared with areas without such an interface, and; 2) to determine the current status of the vector for Corridor disease, R. appendiculatus, and whether there is a relationship between its distribution and the increasing wildlife/cattle interface in the Eastern Cape
Total tick abundance was similar at the cattle (CB)and buffalo (BC)-dominated sites (1110 and 866, respectively, P > 0.05) but Shannon’s diversity index (H’) Species richness Evenness (Simpson’s D index)
Summary
Ticks and their associated diseases are a major constraint to livestock farming throughout the world but in Africa where socioeconomic factors govern the extent to which livestock farmers can control ticks[15,17]. In Africa, tick-borne diseases kill 1.1 million cattle resulting in economic losses of $160 million[19]. The Cape buffalo (Syncerus caffer) is the natural host for the protozoan parasite Theileria parva, which causes Corridor disease and is transmitted to cattle via the vector Rhipicephalus appendiculatus (the brown ear tick)[23]. A change in land use from agricultural based farming to game farming has led to a growing cattle/wildlife interface in the Eastern Cape, South Africa[21]. The detection of its presence or extension of its previous range may represent a disease ‘time-bomb’ and could see the aThe Wildlife and Reserve Management Group, Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, 6140 South Africa
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