Tick infestation

Ticks are external parasites, dark in color and 2-3 cm in size when full of blood. They attach themselves to the skin of animals and suck blood. Ticks can transmit serious diseases such as "tick fever."

Tick

Direct damage

· Hundreds or thousands of ticks infesting an animal can result in anemia, loss of milk production, weight loss and death.

· Some species of ticks cause tick paralysis.

· Physical damage to the hide reduces its market value.

Symptoms

· The animal shows discomfort.
· A large number of ticks may be found in less hairy areas.
· The hide has red patches (tick bite-marks).
· The animal keeps scratching.

Human can be infested with ticks while handling the infected animal.

After sucking blood, an adult female tick falls from the animal to the ground. It lays eggs on the round, in sheltered places, under the stones and in cracks in the wall.

After this, the tick dies. The eggs hatch and develop into a new generation of ticks.

Prevention

· Remove weeds and bushes from around animal housing.
· Clean the housing regularly.
· Cut grasses on pasture areas regularly.
· Avoid contact with infested animals.
· Provide a daily supply of salt for the animals to eat.
· Graze more than one species of animals together.
· Allow birds to eat the ticks. For instance, keep poultry in and around the animal housing. (Laos)
· Bathe the animal in the sea whenever possible, or bathe it with salt water.
· Raise pest-repellent plants such as neem and marigold near the animal housing.

Treatment

· Carefully remove the ticks with your fingers. Pull the rear end of the tick upwards and then backwards towards its head. This will avoid leaving the head in the animal's skin. It will also keep the hide from being marred. After removing the ticks, burn them in a fire. Or, you can feed them to your poultry, as people do in Thailand and Laos. In the Philippines, they put the ticks in kerosene. (All countries. 1, 2, 3, 4)

Pull the ticks from the animal's skin and burn them.

· Treat with salt water. Regularly bathe the animal in the sea or rub the entire body with a mixture of 200 g of salt and 4 liters of water. (Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand. 1, 2, 3, 4)

· Boil 100 g of salt in 250 ml of coconut oil. Let it cool and apply all over the animal's body. (Sri Lanka. 1, 2, 3)

· Boil 10 g of camphor powder in 100 ml of coconut oil. Let it cool and apply all over the animal's body. (Sri Lanka, Thailand. 1, 2, 3)

· Mix 50 ml of coconut oil, 100 g of sulfur and 50 g of turmeric (Curcuma domestica). Boil and let it cool before applying all over the body. (Sri Lanka. 1, 2, 3)

· Soak 300 g of dried tobacco leaves in 1 liter of water. Add 1 tablespoon of salt. After 3 hours, use the tobacco leaf as a sponge and rub the liquid over infested areas. (Cambodia. 1, 2, 3, 4)

Treatment for ticks

Take 1 kg of Annorna squamosa (sugar apple) seeds, 1 kg of neem seeds and 200 g of tobacco leaves. Pound all the plant parts. Mix with 2 liters of water and soak for 24 hours. Rub the mixture all over the body. (Thailand. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)