The use of herbal preparations for tick control in western Ethiopia

INTRODUCTION At present, the application of acaricides by the use of dipping tanks, spray races, pour-ons, spot-ons, hand-spraying and hand-dressing is probably the most effective method to control ticks and the diseases they transmit. Despite their widespread use, acaricides have some deleterious effects. Development of acaricide resistance in ticks is reported worldwide, wherever acaricides are in use. The phenomenon is particularly rapid in 1-host ticks, even under conditions of minimum acaricide application . Unwanted effects of acaricides on the environment can never be overlooked. Some acaricides tend to accumulate in livestock products and pose health hazards to the consumer. They can be toxic to the operator, unless strict precautionary measures are taken. Acaricides have already become unaffordable for most resource-poor small-scale producers. Intensive acaricide application is also known to adversely affect endemic stability to tick-borne diseases. All these undesirable effects and limitations discourage dependence on acaricides. In an attempt to identify alternative methods, a number of unconventional tick control appraoches have been reported, including host resistance, release of sterile males, pasture spelling, tick vaccines, tick parasites and the use of plants for the control of ectoparasites. However, none of these have been successfully applied in largescale control schemes. In Ethiopia several plants are known to have medicinal uses. The objectives of the present study were to obtain information on the various traditional tick control techniques practised by peasant livestock owners in the Wellega, Illubabor and Keffa Provinces in western Ethiopia, and carry out some preliminary investigations that may lead to the identification of potentially promising techniques for large-scale tick-control activities.