Abstract

Ticks infesting camels in Ethiopia were reported in different magnitude ranges, from 28.5% to 100%. The three genera of ticks reported to occur on camels in Ethiopia are Rhipicephalus, Amblyomma and Hyalomma, and the subgenus Boophilus. Among these three genera of ticks infesting camels in Ethiopia, Rhipicephalus was the most predominant genus, followed by Hyalomma, Amblyomma and the subgenus Boophilus. The main tick species reported to infest camels in Ethiopia are Rhipicephalus pulchellus, Hyalomma dromedarii, Ambylomma gemma, Hyalomma rufipes, Ambylomma variegatum, Hyalomma trancatum and Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) decoloratus, in order of predominance. The overall prevalence of mange mite infestation ranges from 10.7% to 94.1% in camels from Ethiopia. The main species of mite reported by different authors in Ethiopia is Sarcoptes scabiei var. cameli. The overall prevalence of cephalopina titillator infestation in camels in Ethiopia ranges from 23.9% to 82.6%, whereas the overall prevalence of lice was 6.1%. The most abundant genus of biting flies reported was Stomoxys, followed by Tabanus, from Ethiopia. However, there is no report on flea infestation in camels from Ethiopia yet. Trypanosome evansi is a protozoan parasite that affects camels in different parts of Ethiopia outside of the tsetse fly belt areas. Information on Theileria, Babesia and Anaplasma in camels is not available so far from Ethiopia. Only a preliminary report on Theileria mutans in camels was reported in Ethiopia. It concluded that ectoparasite infestation causes a serious economic loss in camel production and productivity, which warrants the institution of appropriate control strategies to improve the health and productivity of camels.

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