Study on prevalence of ixodid tick infestation on bovines of Dehradun district, Uttarakhand

ABSTRACT

Reviewing the economic concussion of various tick species on livestock, the present study cum survey was undertaken to understand the epidemiological characteristics of ticks infesting bovines (cattle and buffaloes). The survey was conducted at various locations of Dehradun region of Uttarakhand state in India. A total of 490 bovines were examined on a random basis between the month of July 2017 and June 2018. Overall tick infestation rate was found to be 66.32%. The month of September showed the highest prevalence (52.32%), while the lowest rate was reported in January (39.73%). Similarly, the season-wise prevalence was recorded highest in rainy season (61.29%), followed by summer (51.62%) and lowest in winter (41.09%). Age-wise tick infestations were observed highest in Group I animals of less than 1 year age (60%), followed by Group II animals aged between 1 and 3 years (47.5%), and lowest in Group III animals of age greater than 3 years (32.25%). Sex wise, the females had higher infestation rate than the males (66.67% and 45.2%, respectively).

KEYWORDS:

• Ticks prevalence
• bovines
• infestation

Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to the Vice-Chancellor, Doon University, Dehradun for providing the laboratory facilities and administrative support. Sincere thanks to local populace of Dehradun region for their help in collection of ticks’ samples.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Compliance with ethical standards

All the required ethical standards were complied with.

Additional information

Funding

The study was financially supported by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in the form of a Research Associateship to Tripti Negi (File No.: 09/947(0800)/2016 EMR-I).