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New foci of Rhipicephalus microplus in West Africa

Experimental and Applied Acarology volume 56, pages 385–390 (2012)Cite this article

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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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vector Biology Unit, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nationalestraat 155, 2000, Antwerp, Belgium

    M. Madder & R. De Deken

  2. Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X04, Onderstepoort, Pretoria, 0110, South Africa

    M. Madder

  3. Ministère de l’Agriculture de l’Elevage et de la Pêche/CeRPA-OP/Service Recherche Développement, 03 BP 2900, Cotonou Route de l’Aéroport, Benin

    S. Adehan

  4. Département de Production Animale, Université D’Abomey-Calavi/Ecole Polytechnique d’Abomey-Calavi (EPAC), 01 BP 2009, Cotonou, Benin

    R. Adehan

  5. Ministère de l’Agriculture de l’Elevage et de la Pêche/Direction de l’Elevage, BP 2041 PK 0, 5 Cotonou Route de Porto-Novo, Benin

    R. Lokossou

Authors
  1. M. Madder
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  2. S. Adehan
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  3. R. De Deken
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  4. R. Adehan
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  5. R. Lokossou
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Correspondence to M. Madder.

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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

Keywords

  • Cattle
  • Rhipicephalus
  • Boophilus
  • Microplus
  • Import
  • Ticks
  • Benin
  • Girolando