Abstract
The invasive character of Rhipicephalus microplus was observed in Benin, the second West-African country from which this ticks species has been collected after the initial confirmed record in Ivory Coast in 2007. A cross-sectional study was carried out in the Department of Mono to examine the presence of the tick R. microplus. The survey covered 9 herds (villages) in an agro-ecological zone inhabited by agro-pastoralists, including the State Farm of Kpinnou that imported Girolando cattle from Brazil. Almost 800 ticks were sampled from 36 cattle, on average four cattle per village. The morphological identification revealed ticks of two different genera: Rhipicephalus and Amblyomma. Rhipicephalus microplus was the only representative of the species previously known as Boophilus or blue ticks. Its taxonomic identity was confirmed molecularly by PCR–RFLP. A comparison was made with the situation of R. microplus in Brazil.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the Belgian Development Cooperation (BDC) for the financial support of this research project as part of a Masters programme offered by the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium. Also Nestor Ahomadegbe, herdsman at the state farm in Kpinnou is thanked for his assistance during the collection of field samples.
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Madder, M., Adehan, S., De Deken, R. et al. New foci of Rhipicephalus microplus in West Africa. Exp Appl Acarol 56, 385–390 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-012-9522-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-012-9522-4