Prevalence of Tick Infestation and Theileriosis in Sheep and Goats

Abstract

The present study was carried out to determine the prevalence of tick infestation and theileriosis in small ruminants maintained at National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC) Islamabad and Barani Livestock Production Research Institute (BLPRI) Kherimurat district Attock, Pakistan. A total of 662 animals (219 sheep and 443 goats) were screened for the presence of ticks. Of these, 95(43.37%) sheep and 184(41.53%) goats were found infested with different species of ticks. The difference in prevalence of ticks between two farms in sheep and goats (combined) was statistically significant (P≤0.01). Difference in the prevalence during different months of study at NARC was non significant (χ2=0.95596), whereas at BLPRI this difference was significant (P≤ 0.01). Ticks were identified on the basis of their morphological features. Rhipicephalus spp was found to be the most abundant tick infesting both in sheep and goats. Prevalence of theileriosis in sheep was 7.36% (7/95), while in goats it was 3.8% (7/184), the difference being statistically non significant (χ2=0.6427).