Tick Control
- In warmer climates where rainfall is present all year round and there is a constant high relative humidity, tick activity may be constant throughout the year
- If there is a limited vegetation mat, tick activity will mainly be influenced by seasonal rainfall and the vegetation transpiration
- In temperate climates there is usually 2 distinct periods of tick activity coinciding with warmer temperatures
- E.g. spring and autumn
- Some temperate climates only have 1 distinct period of tick activity in the spring
Control methods
Killing ticks on the ground
- Altering micro-climate
- E.g. Pasture improvement
- Starving (spelling) pasture
- Only useful if ticks do not feed on other hosts
- Burning pasture to kill off ticks on the ground
Separate the host from the infection
- Stock management
- Removing stock from infected pasture when ticks are most active
- Fencing off infected areas
Killing ticks on the host
- Acaricides
- E.g. Dipping, spraying, pour-on solutions
- For more information on acaricides see here
Enhancing host resistance
- Stock hybridisation
- E.g. Breeding the higher resistant Bos indicus with the less resistant Bos taurus
- Vaccination against the hidden antigens in the tick's gut