Prevalence of Ixodid Ticks in Small Ruminants in and Around Jimma District (Published)
A study on small ruminants’ tick was conducted in and around Jimmatown, Southwest Ethiopia, from November 2017 to April 2018 with the objectives of determining the tick infestation prevalence and identifying the common genera of hard ticks in indigenous breeds of small ruminants (sheep and goats). The study was conducted using cross-sectional design to assess the adult ticks attached on study animals. A total of 350 animals (299 sheep and 51 goats) were examined. From the total examined animals, 118 of them were found to harbour different tick genera, giving an overall prevalence of 33.7% (95% CI: 26.7- 38.9). The prevalence of tick infestation in goats and sheep was found to be 35.1% and 23.1 %, respectively. The prevalence of tick infestation between two age groups of animals were statistically insignificant (P>0.05). However, the prevalence was higher in young (53.3%) than adult (29.2%). The prevalence found to be statistically insignificant within species of small ruminants (P>0.05). In this study, six genera of ticks were identified, with the following abundance among tick infested animals:Hyalomma(36.4%),Amblyomma(34.7%), Boophilus(22%), Ixodes6.7%) , Haemaphysalis(4.2%), and Reipicephalus (1.6%).The Preferred attachment sites for most of tick genera identifiedwere internal part of legs, scrotum/udder and anogenital in decreasing order. In conclusion small ruminants’ ticks infestation is highly prevalent in the study area. Therefore, attention should be given to the control and prevention of ticks and further study should be done to assess the seasonal dynamicity of ixodid ticks and tick borne diseases of small ruminants in the study area.