Can DELETE ALL® serve as an adequate method for goats in Amblyomma tick control management in the area of Mnisi (Mpumalanga), South Africa?

Abstract

The present study was undertaken to determine whether treatment with the acaricide DELETE ALL® could serve as an adequate tick control method on indigenous goats in the Mnisi area (Mpumalanga), South Africa. Ticks were collected from 79 goats of fifteen different households, which were divided in two groups, namely the control group and the DELETE ALL group. A total number of 21,367 ticks, of which only 38 were adult A. hebraeum ticks, were collected. Ticks were mostly found on the feet of the goats, especially in the inter-digital space. A total number of 10,286 ticks were found on the front legs and 8,282 ticks on the hind legs. Other predilection sites for A. hebraeum ticks were the ears (n=1,239), udder/ genitals (n=1,071), armpits (n=450) and tail (n=39). There was a statistically significant difference in the number of collected ticks from the goats of the control group and from the goats that were treated with DELETE ALL®. The mean number of ticks in the DELETE ALL group was respectively 2,39 and 2,29 in week 2 and 5, respectively. Goats in the control group carried 33,57 and 31,03 ticks in week 2 and 5, respectively. The decrease in the number of ticks in the DELETE ALL group reached almost 96 percent in the first week after treatment. However, the treatment did not prevent that the number of ticks increased again over the following weeks. A shorter treatment interval than 4 weeks may therefore be more effective. Although goats play an important role for the farmers in the Mnisi area, it will probably be difficult for farmers to obtain it and it is an expensive product. Therefore it would be better to make the product more accessible for farmers first, to use it for tick control management in the Mnisi area.