Partial Strategic Tick Control within a Herd of European Breed Cattle in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Southern Brazil

A trial is described, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil, as one of a series suggested to investigate the effects of strategic but selective acaricide treatments of cattle within herds against Boophilus microplus. They are aimed at considering the repercussions of farmer attempts at immediate reductions in acaricide costs and the potential for creation of ‘refugia’ of untreated ticks. Half (Group 1) of a small experimental herd of European breed heifers were treated strategically against ticks, three times during the late spring–early summer and twice during autumn (southern hemisphere), with an injectable avermectin endectocide, designed to act directly against the first and third generations of parasitic B. microplus per ‘cattle tick year’ at this site, respectively. The consequent levels of infestations on all of the member cattle in their common pasture were monitored. Group 1 showed low to zero tick counts during the 28-day treatment interval periods and up to ca. 14 days after the last of such a series. Treated cattle, however, became re-infested outside of these periods and to levels that would be considered as unacceptable by farmers in the state. The untreated cattle (Group 2) showed infestations at generally higher levels, than their contemporaries, within and outside of the treatment periods. There were thus ample sources of larvae in the pasture, derived principally from falling, untreated engorged female ticks, re-infesting both the treated and untreated cattle. Advantages of maintaining chemically untreated cattle ticks within a herd, compared to their disadvantages as contaminants to classical strategic control procedures, merit re-evaluation, especially in relation to the recent, world-wide resurgence of acaricide resistance in B. microplus.