Integrated Management of the Cattle Tick Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus (Acari: Ixodidae) and the Acaricide Resistance Mitigation

Abstract

Resistance to insecticides is one of the major obstacles to the control of agricultural pests, as well as species important to human and veterinary health. The World Health Organization has called insecticide resistance “the great little obstacle against vector-borne diseases”. Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus is one of the most important vector, transmitting diseases to cattle such as anaplasmosis and babesiosis. These diseases cause great economic losses that significantly increased because of the appearance of tick populations resistant to acaricides, as a result of the intensive use of pesticides. Resistance to ixodicides in Latin America is a growing problem, since control of disease-transmitting ticks, depends heavily on the use of pesticides. In Mexico, the resistance of R. microplus to organophosphate compounds, pyrethroids, and recently amidines, has been detected in some areas, affected by multiple acaricide resistance to the three families of ixodicides. The cattle tick R. microplus in addition to the great ecological impact represents the most expensive pest for livestock in Mexico, since the producers are directly affected by this tick, due to the decrease in the production of meat, milk and damage to the skin, as well as the indirect damage, such as the transmission of diseases, including Anaplasmosis and Babesiosis, which, in turn, represents a serious limitation for the introduction of specialized cattle in endemic areas. Therefore, the use of integrated management programs is a mandatory issue that should be implemented in all those areas affected by this parasite.