Prevalence of Ixodidae in sheep brought for slaughter in Adrar municipal abattoir, Southwest Algeria

Abstract

A two year survey was carried out to investigate the prevalence of Ixodidae on local sheep brought for slaughter in Adrar municipality abattoir, southwestAlgeria. Of the total 960 examined sheep, 285 (29.7%) were infested by one or more of tick species. Tick infestations were found throughout the study period. A total of 784 ticks were collected, and seven species which grouped under two genera were inventoried. The tick spices collected included Hyalomma impeltatum, H. marginatum marginatum, H. dromedarii, H. detritum detritum, Rhipicephalus sanguineus, R. guilhoni and R. evertsi evertsi. The most abundant species were Hyalomma impeltatum and Rhipicephalus sanguineus. The prevalence of other species was very low. The presence of Rhipicephalus guilhoniand H. marginatum marginatumin the study area was an interesting finding. The present study provides baseline data on the status of the parasite in the area.