PREVALENCE OF TICK INFESTATION IN CATTLE AT SADAR UPZILA OF DINAJPUR DISTRICT

Abstract

The study was designed with an aim to determine the overall prevalence of tick infestation in relation to age, sex, breed, health status, season, management system and affected body parts of the cattle at Sadar upzilla of Dinajpur district during the period from January to June, 2017. The investigation was done by collecting ticks with fine forceps and identifying ticks by preparing temporary and permanent slides. A total of 140 cattle (male 45 and female 95) were examined. Among them, 62 (44.29%) were found to be infested with three species of ticks namely Rhipicephalus sanguineus, Boophilus microplus and Hemaphysalis bispinosa. The prevalence of tick was higher in case of Rhipicephalus sanguineus (27.14%) followed by Boophilus microplus (15.71%) and Hemaphysalis bispinosa (1.43%). The results revealed that the prevalence was significantly (P<0.05) higher in female cattle (52.63%) than in male (26.67%). Malnourished cattle were vulnerable (51.85%) to tick infestation than the cattle with normal body condition (33.90%). In age groups, highest infestation was found in calf (< 6 months) (58.33%) followed by adults (> 2 years) (47.05%) and the lowest in young (≤ 2 years) (33.33%). Tick infestation was more prevalent in local (46.24%) cattle than the cross-bred (40.43%) cattle. In case of cattle management system significantly (p<0.005) higher prevalence was observed in cattle reared under extensive system (65.38%) than the intensive (47.37%) and semi-intensive (34.21%) systems. Prevalence was significantly (p<0.001) higher in rainy (54.17%) season than summer (33.82%) season. Ticks were distributed in different parts of the host body such as ear, neck, dewlap, base of horn, eye, tail, perineum, udder and body surface. Among the body parts, ear (35.71%) was the most affected part and tail (3.71%) was the least. It is concluded that tick infestation is a threat to the cattle population at Sadar upzilla of Dinajpur irrespective of age, sex, breed, health status, seasons of the year, management system and affected body parts. This might hamper cattle production in this area. Hence attention in cattle management and appropriate control strategies are need to be initiated to control ticks in the study area.