Roxa Zongezile, Phoofolo Mpho Wycliffe, Dawuda Philip Makama, Molapo Setsumi, Majoro Likeleli
Department of Animal Sciences, National University of Lesotho, P.O. Roma 180, Roma, Lesotho.
Department of Biology, National University of Lesotho, P.O. Roma 180, Roma, Lesotho.
Trop Anim Health Prod. 2023 Feb 7;55(2):70. doi: 10.1007/s11250-023-03492-9.
For over a decade, export of wool accounted for 58.3% of agricultural exports from Lesotho. Even though the sheep subsector contributes significantly to the economy, its development is hampered by different constraints. One of the most important constraints of sheep production is poor animal health due to widespread diseases including those caused by ticks. This study aimed to identify tick species parasitizing sheep and to determine whether tick prevalence on sheep was influenced by agroecological zone, sheep age, and seasonality. Ticks were collected from 720 sheep in the four agroecological zones of Lesotho, namely lowlands, foothills, Senqu River Valley, and highlands, during December 2018-May 2019. Ticks were picked from their sites of attachment then taken to the laboratory for identification to species level. No ticks were found on the sheep examined from the highlands and, as a result, this agroecological zone was excluded from further analysis. The following five tick species, with their overall prevalence, were identified: Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi (38.0%), Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) decoloratus (1.6%), Hyalomma rufipes (1.0%), Otobius megnini (1.0%), and Rhipicephalus appendiculatus (0.3%). Four of the species were hard ticks (Family Ixodidae). The only soft tick species found was O. megnini (Family Agarsidae). Tick prevalence was influenced by seasonality that varied across agroecological zones. Foothills and lowlands had highest tick prevalence in December and January, respectively, and lowest prevalence in February and May, respectively, whereas Senqu River Valley had highest tick prevalence in May and lowest in March. The age of the sheep did not significantly influence prevalence of tick infestation.
十多年来，羊毛出口占莱索托农业出口的58.3%。尽管绵羊养殖部门对经济有重大贡献，但其发展受到各种限制。绵羊生产最重要的限制之一是动物健康状况不佳，这是由包括蜱虫引起的疾病在内的多种疾病导致的。本研究旨在识别寄生于绵羊的蜱虫种类，并确定绵羊身上蜱虫的流行情况是否受农业生态区、绵羊年龄和季节的影响。2018年12月至2019年5月期间，在莱索托的四个农业生态区，即低地、山麓、森奎河谷和高地，从720只绵羊身上采集蜱虫。蜱虫从附着部位取下后带回实验室进行种类鉴定。在高地检查的绵羊身上未发现蜱虫，因此该农业生态区被排除在进一步分析之外。鉴定出以下五种蜱虫及其总体流行率：埃氏扇头蜱指名亚种（38.0%）、变异扇头蜱（1.6%）、红棕璃眼蜱（1.0%）、墨西哥钝缘蜱（1.0%）和附加扇头蜱（0.3%）。其中四种是硬蜱（硬蜱科）。唯一发现的软蜱种类是墨西哥钝缘蜱（锐缘蜱科）。蜱虫的流行率受季节影响，不同农业生态区的季节变化不同。山麓和低地的蜱虫流行率分别在12月和1月最高，在2月和5月最低，而森奎河谷的蜱虫流行率在5月最高，在3月最低。绵羊的年龄对蜱虫感染的流行率没有显著影响。
