CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE SHEEP FOR THE MAINTENANCE OF RHIPICEPHALUS MICROPLUS IN A PASTURE AREA
Autor(es): Marcos Valério Garcia, Jaqueline Matias dos Santos, André de Abreu Rangel Aguirre, Leandra Marla Oshiro, Leandro de Oliveira Souza Higa, Bárbara Guimarães Csordas, Jacqueline Cavalcante Barros, Fernando Alvarenga Reis, Renato Andreotti, Wilson Werner Koller
CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE SHEEP FOR THE MAINTENANCE OF RHIPICEPHALUS MICROPLUS IN A PASTURE AREA
» Área de pesquisa: ACAROLOGIA
» Instituição: Embrapa Gado de Corte
» Agência de fomento e patrocinadores: CAPES, Embrapa Gado de Corte, UFMS, CNPq
Woolless sheep are a new cost-effective option for the diversification of livestock in the Midwest region of Brazil. They are grazed extensively with cattle as well as in isolation in small areas. Woolless breeds are vulnerable to infestations by parasites such as the cattle tick, Rhipicephalus microplus, which causes various types of damage and can transmit diseases. In this study, sheep were naturally infested in an area contaminated by infested cattle and then monitored to determine the ability of these animals to maintain the local tick population in the absence of cattle. After engorged tick females of each generation fell off, the animals were placed in another pasture and were returned only after larvae reappeared in the original pasture. Tick counts were performed every ten days for three generations in the sheep, and average infestations per animal of 34, 12 and 4 ticks were observed for each successive generation. The average length of the parasitic phase for each generation of ticks was 25 days. We concluded that woolless sheep, even if kept separate from cattle, are able to maintain tick populations for at least three generations, although there was a gradual decrease in the population levels of R. microplus over the three generations observed. We also detected two positive cases of Anaplasma spp. Therefore, woolless sheep contribute to the circulation of this bacterium among other ruminants.
