Comparative Assessment of Ectoparasitic Infestations in Urban and Rural Livestock Production Systems in the Greater Accra and Eastern Regions of Ghana

Abstract

Livestock are important contributors to food production in Ghana, providing meat, milk and a source of income for many. Rearing of livestock is practiced by the majority of the farming communities in which they are considered as an investment and insurance against risk and to meet seasonal and emergency purchases such as food crop, improved seed, fertilizers and medicine. However, production of animals is constrained by compound effects of parasitic infestation, diseases, poor feeding and poor management. Parasitic infection is among the major problems of domestic animals, causing serious economic impact. Results obtained by previous researchers indicate that external parasites of livestock are widely distributed. Variable degrees of prevalence in Ghana are the cause of serious economic loss to the farming community, tanning and leather industry and the country as a whole and therefore demand effective control measures. Generally, there has been limited research work on the effects of arthropod ectoparasite infestations on livestock productivity in Ghana therefore there is the need to compare arthropod ectoparasitic infestations in rural and urban livestock (cattle, sheep and goats) production systems in Ghana. . The study was aimed at gathering preliminary information on ectoparasites species, their distribution and their preferred sites of attachment on various livestock hosts in the study sites. At the end of the study, more ticks were sampled from the rural sites than the urban sites and the most sampled tick species was the Amblyomma variegatum. The most preferred site of attachment was the abdomen and the least was the head region. Fleas and lice on the small ruminants were also sampled but were relatively low in numbers due to the regular application of insecticides by the farmers. Comparatively, the numbers of ticks species Amblyomma variegatum, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus, Hyalomma rufipes and the flea species Ctenocephalides canis were not significantly higher in rural areas than the urban areas (p > 0.05). The numbers of the Damalinia spp and Rhipicephalus decoloratus were also not significantly different in rural sites and urban sites (p > 0.05). Certain practices like keeping the livestock in unclean shelters, low interactions between the farmers and veterinary doctors, and the lack of adequate cleansing urine and faeces on the livestock were responsible for the high incidence of ectoparasites on livestock in the rural areas than the urban areas. It is recommended that the farmers should be educated more on the need to keep their holding places for the animals clean and to interact more often with the veterinary personnel to have a better perspective on the need to keep the animals in good condition for better economic returns. There should be provision of irrigation facilities that would aid the farmers in cleansing of the livestock to reduce conditions that make the animals prone to ectoparasite infestations.