Prevalence and Seasonal Dynamics of Rhipicephalus annulatus in Cattle and Buffaloes in Menoufia Governorate, Egypt.

Abstract

Ticks are the most significant ectoparasities of livestock in tropical and sub-tropicalareas. Ticks are responsible for severe economic losses as it is a vector of variousprotozoal, rickettsial, bacterial and viral diseases. The purpose of the current study wasto determine the prevalence of Rhipicephalus annulatus infestations in cattle andbuffaloes in Menoufia governorate with their seasonal dynamics. A total of 1885 animals(973 cattle and 912 buffaloes) were randomly inspected for Rhipicephalus annulatusinfestation from September 2020 and August 2021. In accordance with the ticks'preferred sites, the samples were obtained from cattle and buffaloes of various ages andsex in three different locations in Menoufia governorate (Tala, Shebien EL-Kom and ELShohadaa districts) during various seasons that subjected to parasitologicalexamination. The results revealed that the prevalence of Rhipicephalus annulatus incattle and buffaloes was 26% and 9.32%. The highest infestation in cattle was observedin summer season 38.5% and the lowest was in winter 11.92%. Meanwhile, in buffaloesspring and autumn recorded high infestation 10.84% and10.96% with lower prevalencein winter 8.58%. In relation to the effect of some risk factors in dynamic distribution ofRhipicephalus annulatus infestation, it was found that a significant effect of season inprevalence of Rhipicephalus annulatus in cattle, but not in buffaloes. Regarding to age, itwas observed that 1-5 years old cattle and buffaloes recorded the highest infestationswith 42.3% and 14.07 %. Although non- significant difference in relation to sex ofexamined cattle and buffaloes. Moreover, the effect of locality had a high significanteffect in cattle recorded 31.43%, 25.38%, 20.88% in Tala, Shebien El-kom and AlShohadaa respectively and in buffaloes14.9%, 8.9%, 4.2% respectively. In conclusion,Rhipicephalus annulatus has endemic nature in cattle and buffaloes in Menoufiagovernorate and the adoption of prioritised control programmes should be directed.