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An update on amitraz efficacy against Rhipicephalus microplus after 15 years of disuse

  • Arthropods and Medical Entomology - Short Communication
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Abstract

Amitraz is an acaricide that is widely used in veterinary medicine to control the cattle tick Rhipicephalus microplus. However, controversy exists in the literature regarding the resistance of R. microplus to this product. The present work provides an update on the acaricidal efficacy of amitraz (Triatox®, 12.5 % amitraz) after 15 years without its use on a property. Two in vivo (bovines treated with amitraz and submitted to tick counts, n = 20 animals) and one in vitro (adult immersion test, n = 40 ticks) assays were performed to determine product efficacy. The efficacy of the commercial formulation tested in the first in vivo trial ranged from 14.1 to 47.0%, and in the second from 3.6 to 35.1%, for the 28 days of the experiments. Efficacy for the in vitro trial was 47.38%. The dose recommended by the manufacturer of the product did not cause mortality to most of the ticks of this strain, and efficacy/resistance was not reverted or modified after 15 years (estimated 60 tick generations).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Escola de Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil

    Alliny Souza de Assis Cavalcante, Luiz Fellipe Monteiro Couto, Dina María Beltrán Zapa, Luciana Maffini Heller, João Eduardo Nicaretta, Leonardo Bueno Cruvinel, Rubens Dias Melo Junior, Caio Márcio de Oliveira Monteiro & Welber Daniel Zanetti Lopes

  2. Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva, Escola de Veterinária, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Lorena Lopes Ferreira

  3. Universidade Brasil, Descalvado, São Paulo, Brazil

    Vando Edésio Soares

  4. Departamento de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil

    Guilherme Rocha Lino de Souza

  5. Departamento de Biociências e Tecnologia, Instituto de Patologia Tropical e Saúde Pública, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil

    Caio Márcio de Oliveira Monteiro & Welber Daniel Zanetti Lopes

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  1. Alliny Souza de Assis Cavalcante
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  2. Lorena Lopes Ferreira
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  3. Luiz Fellipe Monteiro Couto
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  7. Leonardo Bueno Cruvinel
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  8. Rubens Dias Melo Junior
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  11. Caio Márcio de Oliveira Monteiro
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  12. Welber Daniel Zanetti Lopes
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Correspondence to Welber Daniel Zanetti Lopes.

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Cavalcante, A.S.d., Ferreira, L.L., Couto, L.F.M. et al. An update on amitraz efficacy against Rhipicephalus microplus after 15 years of disuse. Parasitol Res 120, 1103–1108 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-021-07063-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-021-07063-5

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