Tick-borne diseases of bovines in Pakistan: major scope for future research and improved control

Abstract

Ticks and tick-borne diseases (TBDs) affect the productivity of bovines in tropical and subtropical regions of the world, leading to a significant adverse impact on the livelihoods of resource-poor farming communities. Globally, four main TBDs, namely anaplasmosis, babesiosis, theileriosis, and cowdriosis (heartwater) affect bovines, and the former three are of major economic importance in bovines in Pakistan. Given that the livestock sector has become an integral part of Pakistan’s economy and a large number of dairy cattle are being imported into the country, in order to meet an increasing demand of milk and milk products, it is timely to review current status of bovine TBDs in Pakistan and to identify gaps in the knowledge of TBDs and their control. Although there has been a recent increase in the number of studies of TBDs in this country, information on their prevalence, distribution, tick vectors, and control is limited. This article provides a brief background on key bovine TBDs and ticks and reviews the current status of bovine TBDs in Pakistan to identify gaps in knowledge and understanding of these diseases, propose areas for future research and draw attention to the need for improved tools for the diagnosis and control of TBDs in this country.

Distribution of ticks infesting ruminants and risk factors associated with high tick prevalence in livestock farms in the semi-arid and arid agro-ecological zones of Pakistan

“…Many of the previously conducted studies were confined to a small area and did not consider production systems and sampling strategies, which are all factors that can affect prevalence estimates of ticks and TBDs [1]. Moreover, environmental conditions are changing due to global warming, which may alter the distribution patterns and vectorial capacity of ticks [14].…”

Tick-Borne bacterial and protozoan animal pathogens shape the native microbiome withinHyalomma anatolicum anatolicumandRhipicephalus microplustick vectors

“…marginale and A. centrale, which have all been found to affect water buffaloes and cattle (7)(8)54). The maintenance of these diseases has been made possible due to the availability and endemicity of suitable tick vectors belonging to the Ixodid group (9,55 (9).…”

“…A number of studies on the epidemiology and distribution of tick-borne pathogens have been published in Pakistan (7,(9)(10)(17)(18), there is a dearth of information regarding the microbiome of these ticks and how they interact with these pathogens within the same tick host. Here, we report the microbial communities residing within the uninfected, Theileria species and Anaplasma marginale-infected ticks.…”

An Overview of Plants with Acaricidal and Anthelmintic Properties

“…These plants may also posses' biological activity against significant parasites of veterinary standpoint, which could effectively be used to control ecto-and endo-parasites postscientific validation. The efficacy of plant extracts/products against endo-and ecto-parasites of animals have been reported with variable success (e.g., Chen et al, 2011;Maphosa and Masika, 2012;Martinez-Ortiz-de-Montellano et al, 2013;Mbaya and Ogwiji, 2014;Silva et al, 2014;Abbas et al, 2014Abbas et al, , 2015Abbas et al, , 2017Kumarasinghe et al, 2016). Most frequently used plants are sown either by the farmers or found self-grown, in the fields.…”

“…Likewise, tick associated concerns as to their increasing prevalence, lowered animal productivity; their zoonotic potential and control have been considered as an important area for future research (Ashfaq et al, 2015;Jabbar et al, 2015;Zahid et al, 2016). Helminth infections are also ranked high among the factors leading to low production in animals throughout the world with varying prevalence depending on the climatic conditions, awareness of farmers on the recommended parasite control practices and accessibility to the animal health care (Khan et al, 2010b;Tasawar et al, 2010;Qamar et al, 2011;Borji et al, 2012;Katoch et al, 2012;Roeber et al, 2013;Singh et al, 2014;Bansal et al, 2015;Dalal et al, 2015;Lashari et al, 2015;Scala et al, 2015;Voigt et al, 2016).…”