Tick Control

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  • 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