Spirochaetosis- A Devastating Tick Borne Poultry Disease in the Trans Himalayas

Abstract

Almost all the vertebrate animals, except the fishes somehow or the other are infested with ticks. The arthropods cause significant losses to the Indian GDP. These losses are attributed to the bites which cause among other things anemia, transmission of diseases such as viral, bacterial, rickettsial and protozoan. Spirochaetosis is one such disease in poultry caused by a soft tick called Argas persicus. This tick is a serious pest of the chicken and it causes a great loss to the poultry farmer. It is particularly problematic for the poor poultry farmers of the trans Himalayan belt comprising the hilly areas of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, parts of Uttar Pradesh, and also areas in Nepal, Bhutan and Burma where the use of timber and mud is in vogue during poultry house construction. This soft tick thrives in the cracks and crevices of these poultry houses and remains a constant irritant to the farmer.