Ultra-structural description of Haemaphysalis species on goats in Kerala, south India

Ticks and tick-borne diseases are a major threat to goat farming in hot humid tropical regions of the world. The parasite species and vectors are significantly influenced by topographic and climatic variables. In the context of high prevalence of theileriosis in goats being reported from Kerala, south India, the ixodid tick fauna of the region has to be mapped. Adult ticks collected from 500 naturally infested goats were identified based on gross morphological and scanning electron microscopic studies. Majority of the ticks on goats belonged to Haemaphysalis genus (99.1%) followed by Rhipicephalus. Scanning electron microscopic features of Haemaphysalis intermedia (Warburton and Nuttall, 1909), H. bispinosa (Neumann, 1897), H. kutchensis (Hoogstraal & Trapido, 196) and H. megalaimae (Rajagopalan, 1963) were studied. H. kutchensis and H. megalaimae are reported for the first time in south India. This study emphasises the need to revisit the tick surveillance on different animal species of the state to provides an insight into the possible outbreaks of fatal tick-borne pathogens in the state