In response to Dr.Manu Prakash’s comment on our previous post, we are presenting the process of tick collection and the surroundings from which the ticks were collected.

The ticks were collected from the cow  which had come to Large Animal Clinic (LAC) , Madras Veterinary College  on 27th September 2018 with the following symptoms:  fever, sunken eyes, tick infestation, rough coat. The ticks were collected using tweezers.

Boophilus microplus is widely distributed in the tropical parts of the American continent, Asia and Australia. Its primarily a cattle tick, but horse, sheep and goat can also serve as hosts.

They may feed on any part of the body, particularly when population is large. The udder, neck , dewlap ( a fold of loose skin hanging from the neck of the cow) etc are preferred sites of attachment.

Cow from which the ticks were collected and processed.

1. Neck and Dewlap.

2. Udder