Efeito do sistema Lone Tick na sanidade de um rebanho estabelecido no bioma Pampa

Abstract

The “cattle tick”, Rhipicephalus microplus, is a parasite that causes great direct and indirect damage to cattle farming, especially in the Pampa Biome, where the preference is to produce cattle of European blood. Effect of the Lone Tick system on the population of cattle ticks (Rhipicephalus microplus) in the Pampa biome. The objective of this study was to implement a system for controlling the distance between the Rhipicephalus microplus tick and the bovine host, and to validate this rotational management system in the Southern region of Rio Grande do Sul, which was named the Lone Tick System. The experiments were conducted on a farm in the municipality of Canguçu, RS, Brazil. A total of 16 cows with natural tick infestation were subjected to the system, which proposes an initial division of paddocks into four, with paddock rotation every 28 days. This study was followed for a period of two years and five months. At the beginning of the study in August 2021, an average number of ticks of 93 ± 37 was quantified, and at the end of the study, an average number of ticks of 0 ± 1 was recorded in October 2023. Thus, it was found that there was a significant difference in tick counts (p ≤ 0.05) between paddocks. The breeding cows had an initial average OPG (eggs per gram of feces) of 14 ± 9 and absence of Oocysts per gram of feces (OOPG) in October 2021. At the end of the experiment, in October 2023, a final average OPG of 6 ± 5 was found, with absence of OOPG. There was a negative correlation (-0.175) between the paddock and the quantity of eggs per gram of feces, suggesting that OPG decreased in certain paddocks.Based on the results obtained, it is concluded that the Lone Tick System was effective in reducing the tick population on cattle and consequently in the environment, as well as in controlling the tick and maintaining parasitemia in relation to the agents of Bovine Parasitic Tristeza (Babesia bovis; Babesia bigemina, and Anaplasma marginale). The Lone Tick System emerges as a sustainable alternative for the population control of cattle ticks, indirectly reducing production costs related to acaricides and babesicides, and the risk of environmental contamination.