Survey of tick species distribution in sheep and goats in Tamil Nadu, India

The most important tick species found in Tamil Nadu, their predilection sites and season of occurrence are investigated. Collections were made throughout the year, adult ticks and immatures were collected on daily basis from April 2001 to June 2003 from 600 randomly selected sheep and goats. Hyalomma anatolicum anatolicum, Hyalomma marginatum isaaci, Rhipicephalus haemophysaloides and Haemophysalis bispinosa were the most abundant ticks found. The H. a. anatolicum was found in more numbers in the proximal portions of the ears, eyelids, lips, where as the adults were mostly found in the inguinal regions. H. m. isaaci was found in more numbers in the perianal region and the tip of the tail and were present during two seasons, one from February to March and another from June to November. The next most numerous ticks, the Indian Rhipicephalus spp. was recovered throughout the year with peak burdens being recorded from January to March as the first peak period and from June to November as the second peak period and this species was found in the ears. Low temperature and humidity favored the attachment of this species onto their hosts. All stages of Haemophysalis spp. were found only in the ears of both sheep and the goats. The adults of H. bispinosa were found during winter, i.e. October to November, while their nymphs and larvae were found during the early summer, i.e. March to May. The distribution of tick parasites of grazing sheep and goats in the region of Tamil Nadu were 64.66% in sheep and 97.66% in goats. The seasonal prevalence were recorded as 61.00% in sheep, 97.66% in goats during January to March and as 64.00% in sheep and 94.00% in goats during October to November, respectively. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.