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Rickettsia africae is a gram-negative bacterium, which causes African tick bite fever (ATBF) in humans. ATBF is a febrile disease mainly affecting travellers to southern Africa. This bacterium is known to be transmitted by Amblyomma hebraeum and Amblyomma variegatum ticks. In southern Africa, the principal vector is A. hebraeum. Febrile disease is a serious issue in the study area. There is a high prevalence of non-malaria illness caused by Rickettsia, so there is a need to have more knowledge on these species. Infection rates and transovarial transmission efficiency of R. africae in A. hebraeum ticks were investigated in a rural area of Mpumalanga province, South Africa. Adult and engorged A. hebraeum female ticks were collected from cattle. Larvae were collected by dragging a cloth at ground level using 100 steps, equivalent to an area of 100 m

Bovine fasciolosis has negative impacts on cattle production worldwide, more so on the African continent and especially in smallholder farming areas with limited level of awareness. A cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey was conducted to investigate the knowledge, attitudes, and practices concerning bovine fasciolosis among smallholder cattle farmers in the North West Province of South Africa. A total of 153 farmers were interviewed from three villages of the Moretele Local Municipality in Bojanala District. The majority of respondents were male (84%) farm owners (81%) that had low education levels (56% primary school or less) and employed extensive cattle management systems (84%). A large number of farms lacked infrastructure including calving pens (88%), restraining equipment (85%), and weight determination equipment (92%) while sourcing drinking water for cattle from rivers or dams (58%). No evaluated factors were significantly associated with a positive fasciolosis epidemiological knowledge score. However, education level (P = 0.046), some cattle breeds (P = 0.022), and management system (P

The diversity of ticks and tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) infesting domestic animals in Tchicala-Tcholoanga, Angola, in 2016 was investigated. Seventeen tick species were recorded, Amblyomma pomposum being the most abundant on cattle (40%), goats (38%) and sheep (35%); Rhipicephalus turanicus was the most abundant on dogs (46%). This study presents new records of Haemaphysalis paraleachi, R. compositus, R. kochi and R. sulcatus in Angola, the first georeferenced population of Ha. leachi in southern Africa and the second record of R. microplus in Angola. Using the reverse line blot (RLB) hybridisation assay, fifteen TBP species were detected in blood samples from cattle (n = 88), goats (n = 82), sheep (n = 85) and dogs (n = 85). F The most frequently detected species were Theileria velifera in cattle (78%), Theileria ovis in sheep (80%) and Babesia vogeli in dogs (35%). Species-specific quantitative PCR assays detected Babesia bigemina in 43% (35/80) of blood samples of cattle, while E. ruminantium was detected in 4% (3/70) of blood samples and in 7% of A. pomposum ticks. Anaplasma platys was detected from cattle (18%) and sheep (6%) during RLB analysis. These findings constitute pioneering research in Angola.