Prevalence of Ticks among Indigenous Breeds of Local Dogs in Kano Metropolis

Abstract

Ticks are one of important vectors of diseases of animals and humans, many of which are zoonotic, thus predisposing humans and animal to risk. The study was aimed to determine the prevalence of ticks among indigenous breeds of local dogs in Kano Metropolis. The study was conducted between February, 2021 and September, 2021. A total of 80 (42 male and 38 female) dogs were sampled for the study. The dogs were thoroughly examined for ticks which were collected into properly labeled plastic containers and were transported to the laboratory for identification. The result showed that 55% of the dogs were infested with ticks. From the results, more female (28.75%) were infested with tick while 18.75% of the female were non-infested. On the other hand, 26.25% of the male dog were infested where as 26.25% were non-infested. However, the infestation rate between male and female dog is significant at p<0.05. The relevance abundance of different tick species encountered indicated that four (4) different species of tick were found. Rhipicephalus sanguineus was the abundant specie with total frequency of 117 which accounted for 49.6% of the total tick encountered, followed by Haemaphysalis laechi with 30.5%, Boophilus decoloratus (13.6) and Amblyomma variegatum recorded the least frequency 15 which accounted for 6.3%. It is concluded that tick is one of the ectoparasites infesting domestic dogs

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