Distribution and prevalence of ticks on livestock population in endemic area of Kyasanur forest disease in Western Ghats of Kerala, South India

Tick borne zoonotic diseases are one of the major emerging threats to live stock and public health in India, especially in Western Ghats of south India. Since livestock and wild animals share habitats and grasslands, it is important to know the species composition of major tick parasitism on live stock as well as their geographical distribution for effective control of tick and tick borne diseases. This study provides basic knowledge that is necessary to initiate Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD) prevention programs in these areas. Ticks were sampled from Wayanad districts of Kerala from domestic animals and identified morphologically. A total of 195 cattle searched, in which 168 (86.15%) cattle were infested with ticks and a total of 3633 ticks comprising three genera and seven species were collected, Rhipicephalus microplus (52.71%) was prevalent species followed by Haemaphysalis bispinosa (16.9%), Rhipicephalus decoloratus (15.77%), Haemaphysalis turturis (11.42%), Rhipicephalus sanguineus (1.32%), Amblyomma integrum (1.15%) and Haemaphysalis spinigera (0.71%) were identified based on their morphological characters. As R. microplus was the prevalent species, the risk of transmission of babesiosis and anaplasmosis to cattle increases and the presence of Haemaphysalis sp. point out the risk of KFD in among the tribal colony people and it can be reduced by applying with acaricides on domestic animals.