Abstract

Ticks infesting cattle in Nigeria were reported in different magnitude ranges, from 28.5% to 100%. The three genera of ticks reported to occur on cattle in Nigeria are Dermacentor, Haemaphysalis and Ixodid. Among these three genera of ticks infesting cattle in Nigeria, Dermacentor was the most predominant genus, followed by Ixodid. and Haemaphysalis. The main tick species reported to infest cattle in Nigeria are Dermacentor variabilis, Dermacentor andersoni, Ixodes scapularis, Ixodes pacificus, Amblyomma maculatum and Amblyomma americanum, in order of predominance. The overall prevalence of mange mite infestation ranges from 10.7% to 94.1% in cattle from Nigeria. The main species of mite reported in Nigeria is Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus. The overall prevalence of Demodex folliculorum infestation in cattle in Nigeria 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 Austrosimulium, followed by Ceratopogonidae, from Nigeria. Trypanosome evansi is a protozoan parasite that affects cattle in different parts of Nigeria outside of the tsetse fly belt areas. Only a preliminary report on Theileria mutans in cattle was reported in Nigeria. It concluded that ectoparasite infestation causes a serious economic loss in cattle production and productivity, which warrants the institution of appropriate control strategies to improve the health and productivity of cattle.

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