Hard Ticks of Camel in Southern Zone of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia

This cross-sectional study was carried out in Raya Azebo district with the objective of determining the prevalence and species diversity of hard ticks encountered in camels. During the study period, a total of 384 camels were examined and 96.6% of them were found infested with ticks. A total of 15,723 ticks were collected from half body regions of infected camels during the study period. The average tick burden from half body region of camels was 42.4 ± 19.63. In this study four genera and ten species of hard ticks were identified. The genera identified were Amblyomma (11.11%), Boophilus (1.8%), Hyalomma (23.32%) and Rhipicephalus (61.77%). The tick species identified during the study period were Amblyomma variegatum, Boophilus decolaratus, Amblyomma cohaerence, Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi, Rhipicephalus pulchelis, Amblyomma gemma, Amblyomma lepidum, Hyalomma rufipes, Hyalomma dromedarii and Hyalomma truncatum at a prevalence of 22.9, 16.7, 23.2, 41.5, 92.7, 7.8, 3.4, 47.4, 42.7 and 8.9%, respectively. Further study and appropriate control measures are recommended to improve the health and productivity of camel.   Key words: Amblyomma, Boophilus, camel, ectoparasite, Hyalomma, Raya Azebo, Rhipicephalus, tick.