Matrix Science Pharma (MSP) 1(1) (2017) 39-41 Contents List available at RAZI Publishing Matrix Science Pharma (MSP) Journal Homepage: http://www.razipublishing.com/journals/matrix-science-pharma-msp/ Prevalence of Ectoparasitic Fauna and Ef�icacy of Two Commercial Acaricides against Argus persicus in Layer Poultry Zia ud Din Sindhu *1 , Zeeshan Sha�iq 1 , Muhammad Usman Naseer 1 , Muhammad Nisar Khan 1 , Muhammad Kashif Saleemi 2 , Bilal Aslam 3 , Rao Zahid Abbas 1 , Muhammad Kasib Khan 1 1 Department of Parasitology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad-38040, Pakistan 2 Department of Pathology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad-38040, Pakistan 3 Institute of Pharmacy, Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad-38040, Pakistan *Corresponding Author Email Address: ziasandhu@hotmail.com ARTICLE DETAILS ABSTRACT Article history: Received 22 January 2017 Accepted 03 February 2017 Available online 05 February 2017 Keywords: Tick, Lice, Poultry , Acaricide, Argus persicus Ectoparasites are responsible to transmit many bacterial and viral diseases in laying hens. A number of chemicals are used to manage tick infestation in laying birds. These include carbamates, avermectins, herbal products, pyrethroids and organophosphates and out of them pyrethriods are the most potent than all others. This study was designed to determine the prevalence of ectoparasitic fauna and to check the comparative ef�icacy of two different combinations of commercial acaricides in layer birds in all Tehsils of District Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan. A single species of tick Argas (A.) persicus and a single species of lice Lipeurus (L.) caponis were present in the study area. An overall prevalence of ectoparasites was recorded to be 55 % that includes A. persicus 25% and L. caponis 35%. Number of ticks were counted after every week for four weeks and there was reduction in the percentage of ticks as 40, 53, 65, 80 and 90% at days 1, 7, 14, 21 and 28 by using Eco�leece (cypermethrin) while it reduced 52, 64, 72, 90 and 100% at days 1, 7, 14, 21 and 28 respectively by using H killer (cypermethrin+ dichlorvos). Results indicated that H killer was comparatively more ef�icient (p<0.05) than Eco�leece. 1. Introduction MPoultry production is getting strength in Pakistan and is augmenting at the rate of 20-25% per year. Currently , Pakistan is ranked 11th in the poultry production among all Asian countries. This industry has shown remarkable growth during the last decade or so without the involvement of government. Among poultry , layer birds are ef�icient source of eggs and meat to ful�ill the need of protein source and layer meat shares 28% of the whole meat production in the state. [1]. Production of eggs among the layer birds is variable and it is dependent on many factors like breed of chicken, health status, quality of feed, effective management, age of birds at laying, death rate, duration of eggs production, culling rate and infestation with ectoparasites [2]. A range of ectoparasites can affect egg producing birds which include mice, lice, �lies and ticks. These ectoparasites play a vital role in decreased productivity , as they transmit various micro-organisms which cause intense economic losses to this business [3]. Lice species that affect the chicken are Goniocoites gallinae, Menacanthus stramineus, Cuclotogaster heterographus, Menopon gallinae, Goniodes gigas and Lipeurus caponis. Among fowl �leas, Ceratophyllus gallinae is considered to be the commonest species of fowl flea. Mites are present on many parts of the body of the layer birds and majority of them are less than one mm in length and are microscopic. [4]. Poultry red mite Dermanyssus gallinaeis is an important blood feeding ectoparasite, which infests poultry especially laying hens [5]. Among various ecto parasites of layer birds, A. persicus is an argasid tick which causes severe damage by sucking the blood and may lead to heavy mortality . This is the most signi�icant tick of poultry which sucks a massive amount of blood every day causing huge economic losses [6]. The tick, A. persicus can lead to progressive weakness by sucking the blood that ultimately leads to dropped production and tick paralysis in birds [7]. For control of ectoparasites, chemical acaricides are used on large scale. Pyrethroids are the most popular acaricides alone and in combination to deal with ectoparasites [8] and this group has its place to the most frequently used set of acaricides because it is considered to possess high acaricidal strength [9]. Thus, this study was designed to determine the prevalence of ectoparasitic fauna and to check the comparative ef�icacy of two different combinations of commercial acaricides in layer birds in �ive Tehsils of District Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan. 2. Experimental Methods 2.1. Study area Faisalabad stands in the rolling �lat plains of northeast Punjab, between longitude 73°74 East, latitude 30°31.5 North, with an elevation of 604 ft above sea level. The climate of the District can see extremes with a maximum temperature of 50 °C (122 °F) in summer and a winter temperature of −2 °C (28 °F). The mean maximum and minimum temperature in summer are 39 °C (102 °F) and 27 °C (81 °F) respectively , while in winter, it peaks at around 17 °C (63 °F) and 6 °C (43 °F) respectively . The average yearly rainfall lies only at about 300 mm and is highly seasonal with approximately half of the yearly rainfall in the two months July and August. 2.2. Sampling Units: Study includes layer birds raised on �loor or cage in commercial farms. These farms were considered as clusters and selection of farms was based on one stage cluster sampling by using the following formula [10]. g = 1.962(nVc+Pexp (1-Pexp) / nd2 Where; n = average number of birds per cluster; Pexp = expected prevalence; d = desired absolute precision; vc = between cluster variance. Twenty �ive farms were selected according to this formula, with 5 farms from each Tehsil of District Faisalabad that include Tehsil Faisalabad, Tehsil Samundari, Tehsil Jaranwala, Tehsil Tandlianwala and Tehsil Jhumra. About 100 birds were screened out from each farm, with a total of 2500 birds for the determination of prevalence of ectoparasites. 2.3. Development of Questionnaire A questionnaire was prepared for the collection of information regarding various associated risk factors that may in�luence the prevalence of ectoparasites. Questionnaire was re�ined through formal and informal testing procedures [10]. 2.4.Collection of Ectoparasites Collection of ectoparasites was done by using forceps and intense care was taken so that mouth parts may not be destroyed [11]. These ectoparasites were preserved in glycerin alcohol (95 parts alcohol and 5 parts glycerin) and kept in McCartney bottles [12]. All the preserved samples were transported to the Department of Parasitology , University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, for their further analysis. These samples were identi�ied according to their morphological characteristics using entomological keys [4]. 2.5.Preparation of Slide Mounts The slide preparation methods used, were re�ined from the methods of Walker, 1994 [13], for preparation of both temporary and permanent slide mounts. The preparation of temporary mounts involved relatively a few steps: maceration; bleaching if required; acidi�ication; dehydration; de-waxing and rehydration if required and mounting. Preparation of permanent, archival mounts involved maceration; bleaching if required; acidi�ication; staining and differentiation; dehydration; de-waxing; clearing and mounting. The time required in each step varied even between specimens from the same sample, from 5 minutes to several hours. 2.6. Evaluation of Comparative Ef�icacy of Acaricides: Eco�leece® (cypermethrin 10%) and H-Killer® (cypermethrin 10% and dichlorvos 10%) were purchased from the local market and were used according to manufacturer’s instructions. Sixty commercial laying Cite this article as: Zia ud Din Sindhu, Zeeshan Sha�iq, Muhammad Usman Naseer, Muhammad Nisar Khan, Muhammad Kashif Saleemi, Bilal Aslam, Rao Zahid Abbas, Muhammad Kasib Khan. Prevalence of Ectoparasitic Fauna and Ef�icacy of Two Commercial Acaricides against Argus persicus in Layer Poultry / Mat. Sc. Pharm 1(1) (2017) 39-41 ISSN: 2521-0815 (Print) ISSN: 2521-0432 (Online) This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.