EFFECT OF ACARICIDE TREATMENT OF CATTLE ON AMBLYOMMA-VARIEGATUM (ACARI, IXODIDAE) INFESTATION OF MONGOOSES (CARNIVORA, VIVERRIDAE - HERPESTES-AUROPUNCTATUS) IN GUADELOUPE, FRENCH-WEST-INDIES
Jl. Corn et al., EFFECT OF ACARICIDE TREATMENT OF CATTLE ON AMBLYOMMA-VARIEGATUM (ACARI, IXODIDAE) INFESTATION OF MONGOOSES (CARNIVORA, VIVERRIDAE - HERPESTES-AUROPUNCTATUS) IN GUADELOUPE, FRENCH-WEST-INDIES, Journal of medical entomology, 31(3), 1994, pp. 490-495
The effect of acaricide treatment of cattle on the infestation of the
small Indian mongoose (Herpestes auropunctatus Hodgson) by Amblyomma v
ariegatum (F.) was determined during a field evaluation of selected ac
aricides in Guadeloupe, French West Indies. From April 1990 to April 1
991, cattle at one site were treated every 14 d with pour-on formulati
ons of deltamethrin, flumethrin, or permethrin; and cattle at a second
site were treated as per a local standard treatment using a spray for
mulation of coumaphos every 30 d. The protocol was then reversed, and
from April to July 1991 cattle at the original standard treatment site
were treated using the pour-on treatment. Mongooses were examined for
ticks during February-March and July 1990 and 1991. The mean prevalen
ce of infestation of mongooses by A. variegatum larvae was reduced fro
m 41 to 27% during the February-March to July periods at the pour-on t
reatment sites but increased from 29 to 43% during the same periods at
the standard treatment sites. The mean relative density of infestatio
n by larvae decreased from 2.15 to 0.65 at the pour-on treatment sites
and increased from 0.7 to 1.95 at the standard treatment sites during
the same periods. Data on nymphal infestations were inconclusive, and
mongooses were not infested by adult ticks. The infestation of mongoo
ses by A. variegatum may be of importance as a short-term alternative
host system for immature stages of this tick during an eradication pro
gram.