Effect of acaricide treatment of cattle on Amblyomma variegatum (Acari: Ixodidae) infestation of mongooses (Carnivora: Viverridae: Herpestes auropunctatus) in Guadeloupe, French West Indies.

The effect of acaricide treatment of cattle on the infestation of the small Indian mongoose (Herpestes auropunctatus Hodgson) by Amblyomma variegatum (F.) was determined during a field evaluation of selected acaricides in Guadeloupe, French West Indies. From April 1990 to April 1991, cattle at one site were treated every 14 d with pour-on formulations of deltamethrin, flumethrin, or permethrin; and cattle at a second site were treated as per a local standard treatment using a spray formulation of coumaphos every 30 d. The protocol was then reversed, and from April to July 1991 cattle at the original standard treatment site were treated using the pour-on treatment. Mongooses were examined for ticks during February-March and July 1990 and 1991. The mean prevalence of infestation of mongooses by A. variegatum larvae was reduced from 41 to 27% during the February-March to July periods at the pour-on treatment sites but increased from 29 to 43% during the same periods at the standard treatment sites. The mean relative density of infestation by larvae decreased from 2.15 to 0.65 at the pour-on treatment sites and increased from 0.7 to 1.95 at the standard treatment sites during the same periods. Data on nymphal infestations were inconclusive, and mongooses were not infested by adult ticks. The infestation of mongooses by A. variegatum may be of importance as a short-term alternative host system for immature stages of this tick during an eradication program.