An outbreak of suspected tick paralysis in one-humped camels (Camelus dromedarius) in the Sudan

Abstract

An outbreak of suspected tick paralysis occurred in one-humped camels in Southern Darfur, the Sudan, between latitudes 11-12° N and longitudes 24-25° E, when the camels were herded in tick infested areas. It involved 251 camels of different ages, in ten herds causing 34.3 % mortality. The symptoms were incoordination of movements, unsteady gait and recumbency followed by death or recovery. Hyalomma adults and/or Rhipicephalus nymphs and adults were incriminated to be the cause of the disease. Transient paralysis in a guinea pig was produced after experimental feeding of ticks. Removal of the camels from the tick infested areas and treatment against the ectoparasites with Lindane at the concentration of 0.23 % contributed to controlling the disease.