Abstract:
Livestock Ticks and Tick Borne Diseases (TTBDs) and
associated secondary ŝnĨĞctiŽnƐ adversely impede the
development of the livestock industry worldwide. The
occurrence of TTBDs is determined by a myriad of factors
including, availability of relevant hosts, anthropogenic
ĂctivŝtiĞƐ͕ environmental cŽnĚŝtiŽnƐ and cůŝmĂtic
vĂrŝĂbŝůŝtiĞƐ͕ which ŝnŇƵĞncĞ host accessibility, vector
richness and pathogen ĂcqƵŝƐŝtiŽn and transmission in a
natural mode. The current review therefore is focused on
ĞvĂůƵĂtinŐ the ĚŝƐƚrŝbƵtiŽn of ticŬ species in Kenya and some
parts of Africa and their associated hosts, pathogens,
diseases and habitats as predicted by ĚŝƐƚrŝbƵtiŽn model
records in literature.
The review evaluated more than 61 ticŬ species while
ƉrĞƐĞntinŐ gaps in knowledge of some crŝticĂů ŝnĨŽrmĂtiŽn
that may undermine the expected ƉrĞĚŝctivĞ power of the
ĚŝƐƚrŝbƵtiŽn models for some of the ticŬ species evaluated.
For instance, some ticŬ species did not have ƐƉĞcŝĮc hosts
and/or host-range, type of life cycle, geographic range, their
pathogens lacked vector range, ticŬ habitat, pathogens
ƚrĂnƐmŝƩĞĚ and disease (s) caused by the ŝĚĞntiĮĞĚ
pathogens. Therefore, building a ĚŝƐƚrŝbƵtiŽn model without
such crucial ŝnĨŽrmĂtiŽn would be ŝnĞīĞctivĞ in its
performance and not give the desired results. ŝƐƚrŝbƵtiŽn
models should put into cŽnƐŝĚĞrĂtiŽnƐ the ĚrĂƐtic changes
in geographic ranges, whereby the old ranges could be
diminishing and/or expanding while new ones are being
exploited. This cŽnƐŝĚĞrĂtiŽn shall have ĂccƵmƵůĂtivĞ
impact in developing ƉrĂcticĂů frameworks for sustainable
surveillance, control and management of TTBDs in endemic
areas such as those of Africa. xŝƐtinŐ ƉrĞĚŝctivĞ models
need therefore cŽntinƵŽƵƐ re-designing while ƉƵƫnŐ into
cŽnƐŝĚĞrĂtiŽnƐ emerging factors that determine the
occurrence and ĚŝƐƚrŝbƵtiŽn of TTBDs in order for the
models to be relevant and serve the intended purposes.
