Collection and Identification of Tick Species on Goats and Sheep in Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan
*1Muhammad Jamil, 2Arsalan Khan, 3Muhammad Zeeshan, 3Sayed Mubashir Hasan, 3Atiq Ur Rehman, 4Muhammad Noman, 5Ambrina Tariq, 6Naimat Ullah, 7Muhammad Rasheed,
7Mubarik Ali, 8Abid Hussain, 9Muhammad Zeeshan ul Haq, 3Muhammad Fahim ullah Khan
*1 Pakistan Agriculture Research Council, Arid Zone Research Center, Dera Ismail Khan-29050- Pakistan
2Veterinary Research and Disease Investigation Center, Dera Ismail Khan-29050-Pakistan
3Faculty of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Gomal University, Dera Ismail Khan-29050- Pakistan
4Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, UVAS, Lahore-42000-Pakistan
5Civil Veterinary Hospital CVH, Dera Ismail Khan-29050-Pakistan
6 Department of Parasitology, Faculty of veterinary science, UVAS, Lahore-42000-Pakistan
7Animal science Institute, National Agricultural Research Center, -Islamabad- 54000-Pakistan
8PARC Agricultural Research Institutes, National Agricultural Research Center, Islamabad- 54000-Pakistan
9Department of Clinical medicine and Surgery, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad- 38000- Pakistan
Corresponding Author: Dr. Muhammad Jamil Email: [email protected]
ABSTRACT
Ticks are hematophagous ectoparasites of domestic and wild animals. These are the major health problems for human and animals especially livestock industry all over the world. The several tick species have been reported on domestic animals caused huge economic losses to livestock industry. The current study was conducted to check the tick species found on goats and sheep in Dera Ismail Khan (DI Khan) during 2020. A total of 220 animals were examined for tick collection and infestation in DI Khan using random sampling technique. Four species such as Hyalommaanatolicum, Hy. excavatum, Hy. marginatum and Rhipicephalus sanguineus belonging to two genera were collected and identified. The current study results showed that Hylommaanatolicum was dominant species found on both goats and sheep. Female were found more infested with tick species than male. There is need to adopt best management strategy to reduce the tick burden on livestock in the world especially study area.
Keywords: Ticks, Ectoparasites, Prevalence, Domestic animals, Pakistan INTRODUCTION
Dairy industry plays key role in the economy of various countries including Pakistan. The animals are reared at large and small level to enhance the milk, meat and wool production. The productivity of livestock is decreasing due to various biotic and abiotic factors. Among biotic
factors, pathogens and parasites are the major one that reduce their productivity[1]. Among parasites, ticks are hematophagous ectoparasites of sheep and goats in tropical and subtropical areas of the world including Pakistan[2]. These feed on blood and during feeding inject toxin which cause diseases in their host[3]. It has been reported that more than 80% goat population was recorded infested with tick and tick-borne diseases (TTBDs) such as viral, protozoal and bacterial[4, 5].
The various tick species such as Boophilus spp. Haemaphysalis spp. and Hyalomma spp.
had been reported by early researchers in other areas of country except the current area. The most common tick specie, Hyalommaanatolicum was recorded in all types of animals such as goats, sheep, cows and buffaloes in all study areas of country[6, 7]. Several types of pathogens can transmit by these tick species into goat and sheep even in human [8].
The studies related to tick biology, ecology, distribution, epidemiology and taxonomy are play key role in adopting tick management strategies on small as well as large scale at different farms especially in the study area. There is need to check all these mentioned parameters in adopting best management strategy against tick. For this purpose, the current study was conducted to check the tick species found on goats and sheep in the study area.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
Ticks were collected from different body sites (ear, tail, udder) of 200 goats and sheep from May 2020-August 2020. The collected ticks were preserved in glass vial containing 70% ethyl alcohol and brought to laboratory for identification purposes. All information such as date of collection and host and collector name were labeled on the vial or even recorded on the separate sheet. The collected specimens were identified under stereomicroscope by using previously published morphological keys [9].
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
During the current study, total two hundred twenty (220) ticks were collected from different body sites of animals.Out of 220 ticks, 120 were collected from goats and remaining 100 were collected from sheep during the whole study period. In the current study four species belong to two genera were identified such as Hyalommaanatolicum, Hy. excavatum, Hy.
marginatum and Rhipicephalus sanguineus. It was observed thatHy.anatolicumwas the distributed tick species followed by Hy. excavatum, Hy. marginatum and R.sanguineus.
Maximum Hyalomma species were collected from goats as compared to sheep (Table 1).
The low infestation was recorded on sheep and main reason of low infestation may be presence of wool on sheep body. The wool can prove best protective factor from tick attachment than goat.Our findings are in line with early researchers findings about tick infestation [10,11, 12, 13, 14, 15]. They had identified tick species from other areas of the country. Results of the present study are somewhat similar or different to the studies carried out earlier in other part of the globe. The percentage of tick infestation on sheep and goats is given in figure 1 and 2.
Table 1. Tick species, percentage of tick infestation collected from animals (goat and sheep) during the study
Tick species Sheep Goat Percentage tick infestation
Total collected ticks
H.anatolicum 43 56 45% 99
R.sanguineus 10 9 8.63% 19
H. excavatum 31 38 31.37% 69
H. marginatum 16 17 15% 33
Total 100 120 100% 220
Figure 1. Tick species infestation on sheep
Figure 2. Tick species infestation on goat
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
H. anatolicum H. excavatum H. marginatum R. sanguineus
%age of tick infestation
Tick species
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
H. anatolicum H. excavatum H. marginatum R. sanguineus
%age of tick infestation
Tick species
The infestation percentage can vary according to environmental factors, age, sex and breed of host. It has been reported in previous studies that tick infestation was recorded more in weak animals than healthy animals. In the current study, the similar observations were noted during tick collection. The percentage of tick infestation can also vary with status of animals like lactation and gestation period etc. The prevalence of tick species in the study area may be due to climatic factors which highly affect the tick abundance [16, 17, 18, 19, 20].
Male animals were carried low number of ticks than female. The young goats and sheep carried high tick population as compared to old one. The similar findings had been investigated by early researchers [21]. The high population of tick has been recorded in summer season as compared to winter in the previous studies [22]. High temperature and low humidity can prove effective for tick growth and development as well as reproduction.
CONCLUSION
Ticks are ectoparasites of domesticated animals and major threat to economy of livestock industry throughout the world including Pakistan. The milk, meat and wool production can reduce during high tick infestation on domestic animals. The prevalence and species infestation can vary with geographical variations. Age, status of animals, sex, breed and seasons are the main factors for tick distribution and survival.
ACKHNOWLEDGEMENT
Authors are highly thankful to the concern institutes.
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