Survey of ticks of veterinary importance and tick-borne protozoa of cattle grazed in very hot months in Sokoto Municipality, Nigeria

Abstract

A survey of common ticks infesting cattle and the tick-borne protozoan parasites was carried out in Sokoto municipality, Nigeria. Out of 390 mixed breeds of cattle sampled, 154 (39.5%) had mixed infestation of Amblyomma (53.9%); Boophilus (35.3%) and Hyalomma (10.8%). The female animals were more infested (85.3%) than the males (14.7%). The ticks showed highest preference of attachment on the udder (35.6%) and least for both the inner sides of the thighs and neck regions (1.1%) among females, while in males, attachment was highest at the inguinal region (66.7%) and least at the peri-anal region (13.3%). Blood examination showed that 10% of the animals were infested with Babesia pecies while 6.7% with Anaplasma species.

Keywords: ticks, veterinary importance, tick-borne protozoa, cattle; hot months, Sokoto, Nigeria

International Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development Vol. 6 2005: 168-174