Towards strategic control of ticks in the eastern Cape Province of South Africa

Abstract

The performance of alphamethrin and flumethrin treated and untreated Bonsmara cows and calves grazing in the thornveld of the Eastern Cape Province was compared over a 2 year period. The economically important tick species occurred seasonally but in insufficient numbers to achieve enzootic stability with respect to babesiosis and anaplasmosis. No differences in live mass were observed for the cows, but the untreated calves were heavier at weaning than the acaricide treated group. Markedly lower numbers of ticks occurred on the calves than on the cows. The implications of the findings are discussed in relation to planning alternative tick control strategies for the region.