| dc.description.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. | |
