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Integrated control of Boophilus microplus ticks in Cuba based on vaccination with the anti-tick vaccine Gavac TM

2004; Springer Science+Business Media; Volume: 34; Issue: 3-4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1007/s10493-004-1389-6

1572-9702

M. Rodriguez-Valle, Luis Méndez, Mario Alberto Florez Valdez, Miguel Redondo‐Nieto, Carlos Montero Espinosa, Milagro Vargas, Ricardo Lleonart Cruz, Humberto Barrios, G Seoane, Emerio Serrano Ramirez, Oscar Boué, Jorge Lodos Vigil, Héctor Machado, Carlos Borroto Nordelo, Marisdania Joglar Piñeiro,

Vector-borne infectious diseases

Boophilus microplus has developed resistance against a range of chemical acaricides which has stimulated the development of alternative methods such as vaccination against ticks. In Cuba, the Bm86-based recombinant vaccine Gavac has been successfully used in a number of controlled laboratory and field trials in cattle against B. microplus. In this paper, we have evaluated Gavac in a large scale field trial wherein 588,573 dairy cattle were vaccinated with the aim to reduce the number of acaricidal treatments. It was found that the number of acaricidal treatments could be reduced by 87% over a period of 8 years (1995--2003). Prior to the introduction of the vaccine, 54 clinical cases of babesiosis and six fatal cases were reported per 1000 animals. Six years later, the incidence of babesiosis was reduced to 1.9 cases per 1000 cattle and mortality reduced to 0.18 per 1000. The national consumption of acaricides in Cuba could be reduced by 82% after the implementation of the integrated anti-B. microplus control program.