Livestock farmer's awareness of tick- borne diseases and susceptibility profile of selected cattle ticks to acaricides in selected areas of Eastern Tanzania
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Date
2024
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Publisher
Sokoine University of Agriculture
Abstract
Ticks are arthropods that are responsible for the transmission of tick-
borne diseases in cattle. The use of acaricides is the most preferred
method for the control of ticks and tick-borne diseases in cattle.
However, this method is challenged by ticks’ resistance to different
classes of acaricide. This study aimed to assess livestock farmers’
awareness of tick-borne diseases (TBDs) and acaricide resistance of
cattle ticks against frequently used acaricides in Eastern Tanzania.
Assessment of farmers’ awareness was conducted by administering a
structured questionnaire to 129 individuals. To determine the species
composition of ticks infesting cattle and assess of acaricide resistance
of cattle ticks, field collection of ticks was performed whereby a total of
384 cattle were examined. An experimental design was adopted to
evaluate the effectiveness of the selected acaricides against F1 tick
larvae from collected field tick species. A judgmental or purposive
sampling method was applied whereby a total of 952 ticks were
collected and stored in plastic bottles filled with 70% ethanol for tick
identification, while female engorged ticks were placed onto 50 ml
perforated plastic containers with moisture cotton wool inside to allow
egg laying and subsequently obtain F1 tick larvae that were tested for
acaricides resistance. Identification of ticks was achieved using
prescribed macroscopic and microscopic morphological features. In-
vitro acaricide susceptibility test using Larval Packet Test (LPT) was
performed to assess acaricides resistance of eight commonly used
acaricides with active ingredients; Amitraz (AM), Organophosphates
(OPs); chlorfenvinphos & chlorpyrifos and Synthetic Pyrethroid (SP);
alphacypermethrin and cypermethrin. The data obtained were organized and analyzed for tick species
occurrence and mean percentage mortalities by using a Microsoft
Excel spreadsheet and the IBM Statistical Package for Social Science
version 20. Generalized linear models (GLMs) with univariate analysis
were employed to compare the performance of acaricide resistance of
collected tick strains at 95 % confidence and p-value ≤0.05. The
findings indicate that the general understanding of livestock farmers on
tick and TBDs was low, as only 27.9%, 28.7%, and 29.5% of the
respondents identified Rhiphicephalus (Bo) spp, Amblyomma, and
Rhipicephalus ticks species respectively. A proportion of respondents
understood the specific tick-borne disease names such as East Coast
Fever (17.1%), Babesiosis (7.0%), and Anaplasmosis (6.2%). Hand
spray application of acaricide was the most preferred method (89.1%)
for the control of ticks and TBDs by livestock farmers. About half of
respondents (48.8%) applied the acaricide once per week, followed by
those practicing irregularly (39.6%). The majority of the livestock
keepers (69.8%) do prepare acaricide at higher concentrations than
that recommended by manufacturers. Among the tick species found in
the study areas, R. (Bo) microplus was the most predominant species
(57.9%) followed by Amblyomma variegatum (25.9%), R (Bo)
decoloratus (6.8%), Hyalomma rufipes (4.3%) while the least species
were R. everts (3.8%) and R. appendiculatus (1.1%). On the other
hand, acaricide susceptibility status appeared to be low for acaricide C
(Cypermethrin 15g/l) and acaricide D (Alphacypermethrin 100 g/l) by
84.60% and 85.70% respectively followed by emergence resistance for
acaricide E (Alphacypermethrin 10g/l)
and acaricide B
(Alphacypermethrin100g/l + Chlorpyriphos 100g/l) by 91.30% and
93.90% while acaricide H (Amitraz 125g/l), acaricide A (Amitraz
12.5%), acaricide F (Chlorpyriphos 500g/l + Cypermethrin 50g/l) and
acaricide G (Chlorfenvinphos 300g/l) showed no resistance as
exhibited by 97.80%, 97.90% 99.80% and 99.90% percentage mortality respectively. Acaricide malpractices observed including the use of
wrong dilution rates, use of single acaricide over prolonged time, and
uncontrolled application intervals are some of the factors which might
contribute to acaricide failure therefore more effort should be directed
at educating the livestock farmers on ticks and TBDs control practices
using livestock field officers and frequent training on good tick and
TBDs control practices.
Description
Dissertation
Keywords
Awareness, control practices, Acaricide, Resistance status, Ticks, Tick-borne diseases