Review:Importance of ticks and their chemical and immunological control in livestock

INTRODUCTION Parasitic diseases is a global problem and con-sidered as a major obstacle in the health and productperformance of animals. These may be due toendo-parasites that live inside the body, orecto-parasites such as ticks, mites, flies, fleas, midges,etc., which attack the body surface. Amongecto-parasites, ticks are very important and harmfulblood sucking external parasites of mammals, birdsand reptiles throughout the world (Furman and Loo-mis, 1984). The medical and economic im…

Review: Importance of ticks and their chemical and immunological control in livestock

The medical and economic importance of ticks has long been recognized due to their ability to transmit diseases to humans and animals. Ticks cause great economic losses to livestock, and adversely affect livestock hosts in several ways. Loss of blood is a direct effect of ticks acting as potential vector for haemo-protozoa and helminth parasites. Blood sucking by large numbers of ticks causes reduction in live weight and anemia among domestic animals, while their bites also reduce the quality of hides. However, major losses caused by ticks are due to their ability to transmit protozoan, rickettsial and viral diseases of live-stock, which are of great economic importance world-wide. There are quite a few methods for controlling ticks, but every method has certain shortcomings. The present review is focused on ticks importance and their control.