Studies on the Vertical Distribution of Ticks of Domestic Animals and Their Public Health Importance in Nilgiri Hills and Adjoining Areas of Tamil Nadu State (India)

Table 1

Vertical distribution of ectoparasitic tick species and their host infestation rates from various localities of Nilgiris hills and adjoining areas.

Name of the tick species	Place of collection and their surroundings (altitude in meters above MSL)							Total (%)
	Mettupalayam (300–350)	Kallar (350–450)	Burliar (1000–1700)	Coonoor (1700–1900)	Udhagamandalam (1900–2200)	Gudalur (1100–1200)	Masinagudi (1100–1200)
Boophilus microplus	3	1110	1649	763	306	69	433	4333 (72.07)
Amblyomma spp.	0	16	2	0	0	0	2	20 (0.33)
Amblyomma integrum	0	20	17	0	0	0	0	37 (0.62)
Hyalomma spp.	0	7	0	0	0	0	0	7 (0.12)
Hyalomma hussaini	0	7	0	0	0	0	0	7 (0.12)
Hyalomma anatolicum	2	19	0	0	0	0	73	94 (1.6)
Haemaphysalis spp.	190	581	55	3	0	112	172	1113 (18.5)
Haemaphysalis; spinigera	0	4	14	0	0	0	0	18 (0.3)
Haemaphysalis  wellingtoni	0	52	0	0		0	0	52 (0.9)
Rhipicephalus spp.	91	83	16	30	0	30	73	323 (5.4)
Rhipicephalus ramachandraiae	0	5	0	0	0	0	0	5 (0.08)
Ornithodoros spp.	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	3 (0.05)
Total ticks collected	286	1904	1754	798	306	211	753	6012 (100)
Total hosts examined	222	1019	724	441	74	69	459	3008
Total hosts positive	75	457	348	169	31	38	217	1335
Infestation rate	33.8	44.8	48.1	38.3	41.9	55.1	47.3	44.4
Tick index	1.3	1.9	2.4	1.8	4.1	3.1	1.6	2.0