Haematological response of Sokoto Gudali heifers to Babesia infection and tick control measures in a humid tropical environment

Abstract

Sixteen Sokoto Gudali heifers weighing 184 ± 16 kg were used to assess the haematological response of zebu cattle to babesia infection under different tick control measures. Animals were grazed inside tick-infested pastures and subjected to different cypermethrin treatments as follows: no treatment/control (NT); treatment of animal (TA); treatment of pasture (TP) and treatment of animal and pasture (TAP). Tick count and babesia infection in blood were assessed at 21-day intervals. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), packed cell volume (PCV), haemoglobin (Hb), red blood cell (RBC) and white blood cell (WBC) count were also determined in the animals at pre-treatment and post treatment periods. Tick species found on the animals include Amblyomma variegatum (8.6 %), Boophilus decoloratus (25.2 %) and Boophilus geigyi (66.2 %). Tick count reduced from an average of 34 to less than 8 by the 12^th week of study. Babesia parasite (Babesia bigemina) was not detected in the blood of treated animals by the 6^th week. The ESR of heifers at the 12^th week was 8.36, 2.10, 2.65, 1.65 mm/h; RBC, 6.05, 8.20, 8.26, 9.30 x 1012/L; and WBC, 12.37, 6.06, 7.08, 4.89 x 109/L for NT, TA, TP, and TAP respectively. The ESR and WBC values obtained shows that infection rates increased in untreated animals and decreased in animals under tick control measures. The RBC count also indicates improvement in health status of heifers when cypermethrin treatments were applied regularly. Babesia bigemina

Keywords: cypermethrin, tick control, zebu heifers, pasture, haematology