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Abstract

Trade cattle movement from Cameroon to Gabon is common, but no investigation reports the risk posed by this activity in terms of ticks infestation and transmission of ticks borne diseases. In order to investigate on this, a survey was designed to identify and characterise the predilection sites of tick species on trade cattle breeds brought to the Owendo abattoir in Gabon. This abattoir survey was conducted from October to December 2008. The whole body surface of cattle was checked to remove ticks of all developmental stages. The ticks were identified under a LEICA MZ 7-5 binocular microscope with the aid of standard taxonomic keys. A total of 32 male zebu M'bororo and Goudali were examined in this study. We collected 968 ticks that were regrouped under 4 genera and 7 species: Boophilus decoloratus (41%), Amblyomma variegatum (40.5%), Boophilus annulatus (8.5%), Hyalomma truncatum (5%), Rhipicephalus lunalutus (3.7%), Boophilus spp. (0.8%) and Rhipicephalus spp. (0.6%). Boophilus decoloratus and Amblyomma variegatum were the most abundant taxa. All the ticks identified were collected from ten (10) anatomical regions: head, ear, back, dewlap, flank, abdomen, genitoanal region, tail, forelegs and hind legs. The predilection sites of ticks differed with cattle breed where the genito-anal region and the neck were preferred by those on the Goudali whereas the genito-anal zone and the abdomen were preferred by those on the M'bororo. The tick species identified are potential vectors of several zoonotic diseases. This survey provides baseline data that could be used to control ticks and tick borne disease in Gabon.