Study on cattle tick species frequency distribution in and around Jimma province of Ethiopia

The prevalence and abundance of tick species of cattle were studied in and around Jimma town of South Western Ethiopia from November, 2015 to March, 2016. The overall prevalence of tick in cattle was about 88.8%. A total of 4579 adult ticks were collected from 384 cattle. Of the total tick collected, Amblyomma and Rhipicephalus constitute 76.7 and 23.3%, respectively. Three species belonged to the genus Amblyomma and two species belong to Rhipicephalus. The species encountered were Amlyomma cohaerens (40.68%), Amblyomma variegatum (33.58%), Rhipicephalus decoloratus (19.98%), Rhipicephalus evertsi eversi (3.32%) and Amblyomma gemma (2.42%). The study therefore, revealed that A. coherence and A. variegatum were the most prevalent cattle tick species in and around Jimma. A statistically significant difference (p<0.05) was observed in tick burden between cattle in good body condition and those in poor body condition. That is, cattle with poor body condition had higher tick burdens than good body condition. The infestation level by age and sex were also statistically significant (p < 0.05).  As the age of animals increase, tick burden also increases. Similarly, the female animals carried more ticks than males. The favorable predilection site of Amblyomma species were the scrotum (udder) and perineum, while Rhipicephalus were more around ano-vulva, udder and the tail area. Ticks are important ectoparasites in and around Jimma and cause huge economic losses to the livestock industry. Much attention has to be given to control ticks by the use of acaricides, integrated with other techniques to minimize their effect.   Key words: Ethiopia, cattle, Jimma, prevalence, ticks, burden.