Acaricide and ivermectin resistance in a field population of Rhipicephalus microplus (Acari: Ixodidae) collected from red deer (Cervus elaphus) in the Mexican tropics.

In the Neotropics the control of tick infestations in red deer (Cervus elaphus) is achieved primarily through the use of acaricides and macrocyclic lactones. In Mexico, resistance to one or multiple classes of acaricides has been reported in Rhipicephalus microplus infesting cattle, but information on acaricide susceptibility in R. microplus infesting red deer is lacking. In this study we report the level of resistance to different classes of acaricides and ivermectin in R. microplus collected from red deer in the Mexican tropics. Engorged R. microplus females were collected from a red deer farm in Yucatan, Mexico. The larval packet test was used to detect resistance to the organophosphates (OPs) chlorpyrifos and coumaphos, synthetic pyrethroids (SPs) cypermethrin and permethrin, and the phenylpyrazol, fipronil. Resistance to the formamidine amitraz (Am), and ivermectin was ascertained using the larval immersion test. Data were subjected to probit analysis to determine lethal concentrations and resistance ratios to kill 50% (RR50) and 99% (RR99) of the tick population under evaluation in relation to susceptible reference strains. Additionally, allele specific polymerase chain reaction was used to detect the sodium channel F1550I mutation associated with SP resistance in R. microplus. The R. microplus population from red deer in Yucatan showed very high resistance to the two SPs evaluated (RRs>72.2 for cypermethrin; RR for permethrin resistance was so high a dose-response curve was not possible). All individual larvae tested to detect the sodium channel F1550I mutation associated with SP resistance in R. microplus were homozygous. The same tick population showed different levels of resistance to OPs (chlorpyrifos: RR50=1.55, RR99=0.63; coumaphos: RR50=6.8, RR99=5.9), fipronil (RR50=1.8, RR99=0.9), and amitraz (RR50=2.3, RR99=4.4). Resistance to ivermectin was regarded as moderate (RR50=7.1, RR99=5.0). This is the first report of R. microplus ticks collected from red deer in Mexico with different levels of resistance to four acaricide groups and ivermectin.

Red deer (Cervus elaphus) as a host for the cattle tick Rhipicephalus microplus (Acari: Ixodidae) in Yucatan, Mexico.

Rhipicephalus microplus is the most economically important cattle tick in the Mexican tropics. Wild ungulate species, including red deer (Cervus elaphus), are gaining popularity in diversified livestock ranching operations in Mexico. However, there is no information available on the susceptibility of red deer to infestation with the cattle tick, R. microplus, under hot, subhumid tropical conditions in Mexico. Biological data on R. microplus as an ectoparasite of cattle and red deer in a farm in the Mexican tropics are presented here. Ticks collected from red deer were identified as R. microplus (97 %) and Amblyomma cajennense (3 %), and tick species infesting cattle included R. microplus (95 %) and A. cajennense (5 %). Standard counts of R. microplus engorged females on red deer were 11 times higher than on cattle (428 ± 43 vs. 40 ± 18; p < 0.001). The reproductive efficiency index and larval hatching of R. microplus collected from cattle and red deer were similar (p > 0.05). Hemolymph samples of R. microplus collected from cattle were positive for Babesia spp. (10 %, 2/50) and all the samples from ticks infesting red deer were negative. Seventeen and ten percent of the blood samples from cattle and red deer were positive for Anaplasma marginale, respectively. The role of red deer as a host of R. microplus in Yucatan, Mexico and the importance of this host-parasite relationship relative to the epidemiology of R. microplus-borne diseases are discussed.