Vol. 9 No. (1): 123 - 132 (2018): Tick infestation on animals slaughtered at Sokoto central abattoir, Sokoto, Nigeria

Ticks are arthropods with four pairs of jointed legs, two body division i.e. cephalothorax and
abdomen and they are wingless. The study was conducted to determine the incidence of ticks
on animals slaughtered at Sokoto central abattoir. A total of 200 animals made up of 50 each
of cattle, camel, Goat and sheep were examined during the study. The body of animals were
divided into four i.e. legs, anal region, udder and other parts for tick examination. Age and
sex of the animals were noted. 79 animals, representing 39.5% were infested. The results
showed that camel has the highest infestation of 21%, followed by cattle with 15%, the sheep
2% and Goat with 1.5%. A total of 1055 ticks were collected from 79 infested animals. Six
species of ticks belonging to three genera were recorded, the tick species encountered with
their prevalence percentage are Hyalomma dromedarri with 69.19% followed by Hyalomma
truncatun with 20.47%, Ambylomma Variegatum with 6.16%, Boophilus decoloratus with
3.15%, Hyalomma marginatum rufipes 0.75% and Hyalomma impeltatum with lowest
percentage of 0.28%.From the study, the intensity of tick infestation is high, hence the need
for strict adoption of preventive strategies.