Prevalence of ticks infesting livestock of Kashmir valley
SR Tramboo, RA Shahardar, IM Allaie and ZA Wani
In the present study, the prevalence of ticks infesting livestock of Kashmir valley was carried out from March to August 2016. A total of 479 animals (including 230 sheep, 112 equines, 70 goats, 61 cattle and 6 dogs) were screened out of which, 200 (41.75%) animals were found infested with ticks which included 121 sheep (52.61%), 23 equines (20.53%), 38 goats (54.28%), 15 cattle (24.59%) and 3 dogs (50.00%). The different genera of ticks encountered during this study were Haemaphysalis, Rhipicephalus and Ornithodoros. The sheep were found to be infested with Haemaphysalis spp. (73.68%) and Ornithodoros spp. (26.32%); goats with Haemaphysalis spp.(85.74%) and Rhipicephalus spp.(14.26%); cattle and equines with Haemaphysalis spp. only(100%) and dogs with Haemaphysalis spp.(88.88%) and Rhipicephalus spp.(11.12%).