The current status of major tick borne diseases in Zambia

Abstract

-Tick-borne diseases occurring in Zambia are assuming more importance as they continue to be a major economic problem not only in Zambia, but in many parts of Eastern, Southern and Central Africa. The current control methods, which include the use of toxic acaricides to kill ticks, and the virulent sporozoite infection and treatment method have limitations. Recombinant vaccines, currently in their experimental stages, offer hope for the future. The use of acaricides is hampered by the development of acaricide resistance and live vaccines are dependent on cold chain facilities, which are a formidable obstacle in the poorly developed infrastructure in parts of Zambia where the vaccine is most needed. Amidst these drawbacks are the results of the recent research on parasites and vector recombinant vaccines which promise to circumvent these problems. The history, current status and attitudes regarding the control of these diseases, taking into account their complexity, are reviewed. The establishment of the well-designed Central Veterinary Research Institute (CVRI) and Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) sponsored veterinary school, both have a potential for high quality research, with access to a wealth of specimens a veritable goldmine of research material. It is thus hoped that this review will stimulate the desire to maximize the value of the tick and tick-borne disease research in both Zambia and the international research community.

Abundance and distribution of Ixodid tick species infesting cattle reared under traditional farming systems in Tanzania

“…Ixodid ticks are harmful blood-sucking ectoparasites of cattle (Tsegaye et al, 2013) and are important vectors for tick-borne diseases (TBDs) such as East Coast fever, babesiosis, anaplasmosis and heartwater which affect cattle in Tanzania and other subSaharan African countries (Makala et al, 2003;Kivaria, 2006;Swai et al, 2007). The economic losses caused by the direct effects of these ticks include: Reduced cattle productivity, that is, milk yield, low quality of hides and skin and increased susceptibility to other diseases due to secondary infections (Tsegaye et al, 2013).…”

Prevalence of Anaplasmosis in cattle in Sirajganj district of Bangladesh

“…Bangladesh is usually hot and humid except in winter, and the climatic condition of Bangladesh is very conducive to a wide variety of parasites as well as ticks (Razzak and Shaikh, 1969) which have been recognized as the notorious threat due to severe irritation, allergy and toxicosis (Niyonzema and Kiltz, 1986). Tick-borne diseases cause substantial losses to the livestock industry throughout the world (Ananda et al, 2009;Kakarsulemankhel, 2011) as these have got a serious economic impact due to obvious reason of death, decreased productivity, lowered working efficiency (Uilenberg, 1995), increased cost for control measures (Makala et al, 2003) and limited introduction of genetically improved cattle in an area (Radostits et al, 2000). There are many Anaplasma species but, Anaplasma marginale is the most important one (Kumar et al, 2010).…”

Prevalence of theileriosis and babesiosis in cattle in Sirajganj district of Bangladesh

“…ticks, responsible for tropical theileriosis, a disease which has been reported from various parts of the world (Oliveira et al, 1995;Durrani et al, 2010;Tavassoli et al, 2011). Tick-borne diseases cause substantial losses to the livestock industry throughout the world (Ananda et al, 2009;Kakarsulemankhel, 2011) as these have got a serious economic impact due to obvious reason of death, decreased productivity, lowered working efficiency (Uilenberg, 1995), increased cost for control measures (Makala et al, 2003) and limited introduction of genetically improved cattle in an area (Radostits et al, 2000).…”