Preliminary Study on Ixodid Ticks Population of the Gaongho Pastoral Area in Burkina Faso, West Africa

Abstract

Ticks are a real problem for ruminant breeding including Burkina Faso and West Africa in general. This study was carried out from October 2015 to September 2016 in Gaongho pastoral zone (Burkina Faso) to determine the composition of ticks , the prevalence and risk factors (species, season and sex age) linked to the infestation of ruminants (cattle, sheep and goats). In order to do that, samples of ticks were seasonally taken on 559 ruminants sampled at random among breeders’ flocks. Four genus of ticks were found among 1,101 ticks collected: Hyalomma (39.87%), Amblyomma (31.79%), Rhipicephalus (26.16%) and Boophilus (2.18%). These ticks were more abundant in cold dry season (51.95%) than in rainy season (45.96%) and hot dry season (2.09%). The overall prevalence of the infestation was 43.39%, including 47.9% in sheep, 12.9% in goats and 39.1% in cattle with an average level of infestation of 4, 1 ± 3.6 ticks per animal. Males were more infected than females and the adults were most infected than young (p 0.05). The most favorable moments for the infestation were rainy, dry cold seasons in the Pastoral Zone of Gaongho. Therefore more effective strategies should be implemented to fight against the ticks to reduce their negative impact on ruminant production.