Abstract

Blood samples were collected and examined for haemoparasites from 1530 cattle composed of four breeds: Adamawa gudali (434), Sokoto gudali (386), Red bororo (414) and Bunaji (298). Six hundred and forty (41.8%) of those examined were infected with haemoparasites. Three species of tick-borne parasites were encountered namely Babesia bigemina, Theileria parva and Anaplasma marginale and a non-tick borne parasite Trypanasoma vivax. Adamawa gudali was the most infected (44.5%), followed by Sokoto Gudali (43.0%). The least infected was Bunaji (37.9%). Chi square analysis showed significant association between infection and breed of cattle (P<0.05).  Seven species of ixodid ticks were collected from the cattle namely, Amblyomma variegatum, Amblyomma lepidum, Hyalomma truncatum, Hyalomma rufipes, Boophilus decolaratus, Boophilus annulatus and Rhipicephalus evertsi. Monthly tick distribution shows that the month of April had the least tick burden. Whereas, the month of August recorded the highest tick burden.

Key words: Haemoparasites, Chi square analysis.