Abstract

In Rwanda and subtropical African region in general, tick-borne diseases are regarded as one of the main threats of animal and human health. In this study we assessed the ixodids population in Akagera national park which can harbored by wild animals. In August and September, 2011 and 2012, ticks were collected on vegetation in three sites located in Akagera national park by flagging method. Within a total of 204 ticks collected, three species including Amblyomma variegatum, Hyalomma truncatum and Amblyomma variegatum were identified. The Rhipicephalus appendiculatus was predominant with 90.3% followed by Amblyomma variegatum and Hyalomma truncatum with 5.1 and 4.5% of specimen sampled respectively. The results reported herein prove at the first time that the wild animal of Akagera national park are exposed to the tick and to the tick-borne diseases transmitted by these ones. Moreover, in this case, the wild animals of this park can act as reservoirs of those diseases for livestock and/or human in this region.

Keywords:

Amblyomma variegatum, Hyalomma truncatum, Rhipicephalus appendiculatus Rwanda,

References

Competing interests

The authors have no competing interests.

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The authors have no competing interests.