Invasive cattle ticks in East Africa: morphological and molecular confirmation of the presence of Rhipicephalus microplus in south-eastern Uganda
| Autor: | Josephus J. Fourie, Theo Schetters, Nick Juleff, Christian Ndekezi, Dennis Muhanguzi, Sylvester Ochwo, Joseph Nkamwesiga, Wilson Amanyire, Robert Tweyongyere, Frans Jongejan, Joseph Byaruhanga, Frank Norbert Mwiine, Maxime Madder, Ivan Gerard Horak |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
Male
0301 basic medicine Veterinary medicine Entomology Livestock 030231 tropical medicine Species distribution Babesia Cattle Diseases Tick lcsh:Infectious and parasitic diseases 03 medical and health sciences Ticks 0302 clinical medicine RNA Ribosomal 16S Rhipicephalus medicine Animals lcsh:RC109-216 Uganda Phylogeny Retrospective Studies Tick-borne disease biology business.industry Research medicine.disease biology.organism_classification Tick Infestations 030104 developmental biology Infectious Diseases Rhipicephalus microplus RNA Ribosomal Tick-Borne Diseases Vector (epidemiology) Serere district Cattle Female Parasitology business Amblyomma variegatum |
| Zdroj: | Parasites & Vectors Parasites & Vectors, Vol 13, Iss 1, Pp 1-9 (2020) |
| DOI: | 10.21203/rs.2.19430/v2 |
| Popis: | Background Rhipicephalus microplus, an invasive tick species of Asian origin and the main vector of Babesia species, is considered one of the most widespread ectoparasites of livestock. The tick has spread from its native habitats on translocated livestock to large parts of the tropical world, where it has replaced some of the local populations of Rhipicephalus decoloratus ticks. Although the tick was reported in Uganda 70 years ago, it has not been found in any subsequent surveys. This study was carried out to update the national tick species distribution on livestock in Uganda as a basis for tick and tick-borne disease control, with particular reference to R. microplus. Methods The study was carried out in Kadungulu, Serere district, south-eastern Uganda, which is dominated by small scale livestock producers. All the ticks collected from 240 cattle from six villages were identified microscopically. Five R. microplus specimens were further processed for phylogenetic analysis and species confirmation. Results The predominant tick species found on cattle was Rhipicephalus appendiculatus (86.9 %; n = 16,509). Other species found were Amblyomma variegatum (7.2 %; n = 1377), Rhipicephalus evertsi (2.3 %; n = 434) and R. microplus (3.6 %; n = 687). Phylogenetic analysis of the 12S rRNA, 16S rRNA and ITS2 gene sequences of R. microplus confirmed the morphological identification. Conclusions It is concluded that R. microplus has replaced R. decoloratus in the sampled villages in Kadungulu sub-county, since the latter was not any longer found in this area. There is currently no livestock movement policy in force in Uganda, which could possibly limit the further spread of R. microplus ticks. Future surveys, but also retrospective surveys of museum specimens, will reveal the extent of distribution of R. microplus in Uganda and also for how long this tick has been present on livestock without being noticed. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
|