Ticks and health risks in ruminant farming - TISARU

The TISARU project, led by ÁùºÏ²Êͼ¿â Guadeloupe with the support of the Directorate of Food, Agriculture and Forestry (DAAF), is aimed at mapping and quantifying health risks that have a major clinical and/or economic impact on ruminant farms in Guadeloupe, and identifying their risk factors. The project will also transfer techniques and skills for monitoring resistance to treatments (acaricides, anthelmintics) to the Association pour la Protection Sanitaire des Elevages de Gwadloup (SANIGWA - Gwadloup association for livestock health protection). The goal is to then assess resistance to acaricides in ticks collected from farms rearing large and small ruminants and to characterise resistance to anthelmintics in gastrointestinal parasites of small ruminants.
Senegalese ticks © Damien Meyer, ÁùºÏ²Êͼ¿â

Senegalese ticks © Damien Meyer, ÁùºÏ²Êͼ¿â

Issues

The number of registered professional livestock farmers in Guadeloupe stood at around 7 600 in 2018 for 39 000 heads of cattle and 370 small ruminant holders (DAAF data). However, these figures hide a sharp decline in production, with a slaughter volume that fell by 23% and 50% for cattle and small ruminants respectively between 2010 and 2017 (DAAF Guadeloupe, 2019). Health risks and treatment costs are major obstacles to the revival of large and small ruminant farming in Guadeloupe.

The ticks present in the region (Amblyomma variegatum, the Senegalese tick, and Rhipicephalus microplus, the cattle tick), as well as the associated tick-borne diseases, including heartwater transmitted by the Senegalese tick, babesiosis and anaplasmosis transmitted by the cattle tick, and dermatophilosis, are major health threats to the ruminant livestock sectors in Guadeloupe. Moreover, the spectrum of synthetic acaricides (chemical control of mites, to which ticks belong) is limited and the emergence of resistance is likely, similar to the multiple resistances ÁùºÏ²Êͼ¿â identified in Martinique in 2013-2016. INRAE also identified a dramatic reduction in the effectiveness of anthelmintics (drugs to treat digestive parasites in small ruminant farming) in 2011.

Description

The goal of this project is to meet the needs expressed by farmers with tailored transfer solutions:

  • personalised feedback for farmers on the health status of their farms and treatment resistance observed there;
  • transfer workshops;
  • guides and practical recommendations for managing livestock diseases and treatment resistance.

Expected results

The TISARU project will produce knowledge on the health status of ruminant herds in Guadeloupe and on resistance to acaricide and anthelmintic treatments. It will support ruminant farmers in implementing rational control of parasites and infectious diseases in cattle, sheep and goat farming. The adoption of new practices should improve the viability and sustainability of farms in Guadeloupe.

Operational partners: INRAE; SANIGWA (GDS); Institut Technique de l’Elevage (ITEL); Direction de l’Alimentation, de l’Agriculture et de la Forêt  (DAAF) Guadeloupe.