Ectoparasites of ruminants from the semi arid region of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil

Abstract

The ectoparasitoses constitute a sanitary problem what affect the sheep, goat and bovine herd, responsible for considerable economic losses, loss in the production and productivity in the herd. This work had the objective of notification of ectoparasites in ruminant from 2007 to 2008. It was examined 727 ruminant from rural proprieties of the city of Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, distributed in 150 goat, 202 sheep end 375 bovine. The arthropods collected were conditioned in flasks containing 70% alcohol and identified in the Laboratory of Animal Parasitology at the Universidade Federal Rural do Semi Árido. From the total of 1723 specimens of ectoparasites, it was found Damalinea ovis (40%) in goat, D. caprae (78.3%) in sheep and Rhipicephalus microplus (86.9%) in bovine, also found in goat end sheep. Keywords: Ruminants, arthropods ectoparasites, semiarid.