title: First record of the pantropical blue tick Rhipicephalus microplus in Namibia.
abstract: The invasive pantropical blue tick, Rhipicephalus microplus, has recently been collected from cattle in Namibia. A cross-sectional study aimed at recording the geographic distribution of Rhipicephalus decoloratus and establishing whether R. microplus is present in Namibia was conducted towards the end of summer (March-April) 2013. Ticks were collected from cattle on 18 privately owned farms across a large geographical scale. Ticks were collected from three to five cattle per farm and species belonging to the genera Hyalomma and Rhipicephalus were recovered. Rhipicephalus decoloratus was present on all farms and R. microplus was recorded on four of the farms. The small numbers of R. microplus compared to R. decoloratus collected in the mixed infestations, suggests that the introduction events were recent.
authors.affiliation: Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Stellenbosch, 7602, South Africa.
authors.forename: Nkululeko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nyangiwe
authors.forename: Conrad
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Matthee
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Horak
authors.forename: Sonja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Matthee
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000469:parasitology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D058865:Introduced Species; D009276:Namibia; D048494:Rhipicephalus / Q000145:classification*; D013984:Tick Infestations / Q000662:veterinary*