The Prevalence of Ectoparasites of Livestock and Dogs in Edo State (South-South), Nigeria

The presence of ectoparasites on animals could cause significant economic losses. Hence, profiling of these parasites on hosts in any location is the first step to planning prevention and control activity. Livestock (cattle, goats, sheep and chickens) and dogs were screened for ectopararsites (ticks, lice and fleas) in some local government areas in Edo state, Nigeria. Using standard methods, samples were collected from animals, identified and counted. Only ticks were recovered from cattle with Amblyomma variegatum (66%) being the most prevalent species. On goats, the different groups of ectoparasites were geographically isolated. Only tick species were seen in Oredo, lice in Esan-West and fleas in Owan-West; while on sheep, ectoparasites were relatively scanty across study locations. Only lice species were seen on chickens with Menopon gallinae (70.37%) most occurring. For dogs, ectoparasites diversity was richer than sampled livestock as ticks, lice and fleas were recovered. The possible significance of recovered ectoparasites in the study areas is thus discussed. Key words : Livestock; Dog; Ectoparasites; Edo state