Ticks and tick-borne infections in some livestocks slaughtered at Gwagwalada Abattoir, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria

Abstract

Generally, the parasites transmitted by ticks constitute a major health problem in livestock and livestock industry. A survey of ticks and tick-borne infections was carried out between June and November 2014. Two hundred (200) animals were screened for the presence of ticks on the, the ticks were collected using a forcep and preserved in 70% alcohol. Of the animals examined, only the cattle were infected with various parasites of ticks ranging from Babesia marginale 4 (4.00%), Anaplasma bigemina 2 (2.00%) and Anaplasma central 2 (2.00%) but none of the sheep and goats were infected. Among the ticks identified were Amblyomma variegatum (45.78%), Hyalomma truncatum (24.10%), Boophillus decoloratus (19.28%) Repiephallus spp (9.64%) and Ornithodorus spp (1.26%) being the least. The relationship between infection rate and sexes of cattle with (9.67%) for males and (5.26%) in females showed a significant difference at (p<0.05) using chi square. The current study was able to provide baseline information on prevalence of ticks and their borne infections in main campus of the University of Abuja. This therefore poses a great consequence to livestock and humans in the main campus of the university.

Keywords: Ticks; infections; livestock; Gwagwalada; abattoir