South African livestock faces escalating threat from resistant ticks spreading disease

Ticks continue to be a costly biological threat to livestock in southern Africa, spreading deadly diseases and developing resistance to control measures, prompting calls for integrated pest management.

Ticks remain among the livestock sector’s most costly biological threats in southern Africa, according to African Farming, because they spread disease, weaken animals and erode the value of hides and skins. The risks go beyond cattle: sheep, goats, horses, donkeys and even humans can be affected.

The article explains that the main concern is not simply the bite itself but what different tick species carry. Blue ticks spread redwater and gall sickness; red-legged ticks can transmit biliary fever in horses, East Coast fever and redwater in cattle; bont ticks are linked to heartwater; and brown ear ticks are associated with Corridor disease and East Coast fever. Some species also inject toxins that can trigger paralysis or sweating sickness.

Research cited in related studies underlines the scale of the problem. A systematic review found 26 tick species across seven genera in cattle kept by smallholders in South Africa, while another review across the SADC region reported a high burden of tick infestation and tick-borne disease. Field studies in the eastern Free State and Mpumalanga likewise found significant farmer losses and persistent pathogen carriage in local tick populations.

Control remains difficult because ticks have short, overlapping life cycles and, in some areas, increasing resistance to acaricides. That is why veterinarians increasingly argue for integrated control based on surveillance, timely treatment and an understanding of tick biology.