Friendly™ Cattle Tick (Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus)
The Asian blue tick is a hard tick that feeds on a variety of livestock animals. It is mostly found on domestic cattle although goats, horses, sheep, and some wild animals can be effective hosts. The cattle tick is considered to be the most important parasite of livestock worldwide and it is known to transmit diseases such as babesiosis and anaplasmosis. In addition to zoonotic disease, the tick causes economic losses to productivity through the damage inflicted to animal hides and blood loss. It is found in most tropical and subtropical regions of the world, including Asia, Africa, Central and South America. The cattle tick is spreading at an alarming rate through most African countries and is becoming an increasing problem worldwide due to its invasiveness and increasing resistance to most acaricides.
OUR SOLUTION
Oxitec’s Friendly™ arthropods offer a new approach to managing ticks that parasitize livestock. The simple self-limiting gene introduced to the Oxitec tick allows for the production of male-only cohorts of ticks, which – after release into the field – find and mate with invasive pest females. The self-limiting gene is passed to their offspring, preventing offspring from surviving and reproducing. With sustained releases of Friendly™ ticks on a given farm, the number of disease-spreading females will therefore decline, causing a reduction in the number of resident ticks of that species.
Oxitec’s safe, non-toxic self-limiting approach is highly targeted. The self-limiting gene also disappears within a few generations, once releases stop, making Oxitec’s solution highly effective without having an impact on the environment. Our approach is also compatible with other pest management tools and is expected to enhance the efficacy of current approaches including acaricide applications and newly emerging tick vaccines.
Development of this Friendly™ cattle tick product is at a very early stage, but in the future is anticipated to be an important solution to protect livestock against this parasite, and also for sustainable integrated pest management in farming.
Read more about how our solution works here.
FACTSHEET
What kind of livestock does it damage?
It is a major parasite of cattle, but can also feed on buffalo, horses, goats, sheep, pigs, dogs and wild animals (e.g. deer).
How does it damage them?
All life stages of the tick feed on livestock inducing physical damage and blood losses. The tick is also able to transmit babesiosis (Texas cattle fever) and anaplasmosis, two debilitating, malaria-like diseases in livestock.
Where is it found?
Worldwide in tropical and sub-tropical areas including Central and South America, Africa and Asia.
How does it impact livestock production?
The cattle tick is responsible for a number of tick-borne diseases in livestock and has developed resistance to a range of acaricides, making it difficult for farmers to control. The impact of cattle tick infestation is especially devastating in developing countries, where inability to control the parasite and monitor the diseases has a severe impact on livestock economy.