Authors
DO Ajagbe1; OO Omitola1; FA Akande1; AA Aladeshida1; UF Ekpo1; 1 Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria Discussion
Microsporidia endosymbionts are promising microorganisms for the biological control of arthropod vectors. We mapped the occurrence and geographical distribution of Microsporidia in ticks, considered as the second most important arthropod vector of public health concern after mosquitoes. Tick species were collected from 68 cattle and 13 dogs from 4 locations viz, Gbonagun, Asero, Lafenwa and Ita-Eko in Ogun State, Nigeria. The ticks were morphologically identified and characterized into sex and developmental stage. Each tick was then homogenized, and an aliquot was used to prepare a thin smear on a microscope slide, air-dried, fixed with 70% methanol, stained with Giemsa, and examined microscopically for microsporidia spores. A total of 880 ticks were collected and identified as Amblyomma variegatum (8.07%), Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) decoloratus, (6.93%), Rh. (Boophilus) microplus (47.61%), Rh. (Boophilus) annulatus (37.05%) and Hyalomma marginatum (0.34%). 277 (31.4%) of ticks were infected with Microsporidia. The prevalence of Microsporidia infection by tick species was as follows: Amblyomma variegatum (23.94%), Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) decoloratus (24.59%), Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus (37.47%), Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus (26.99%) and Hyalomma marginatum (0%). The occurrence of Microsporidia infection in the species of the different tick collected was significant (p=0.005). This study shows that Microsporidia are widely distributed in major tick species populations in Ogun State. PCR screening and characterization of the detected Microsporidia is ongoing. 
