Humoral antibody response of rabbits to Rhipicephalus appendiculatus infestation.

Rabbits infested four times in succession with adult Rhipicephalus appendiculatus developed anti-tick antibodies, demonstrated by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, following primary infestation and increased by subsequent infestations. Maximum antibody activity was detected after the third infestation while lower ixodid engorged weights occurred from the second infestation onwards. The antibody activity stimulated by the fourth application of ticks was slightly less than that of the third infestation. A slight reduction in antibody activity occurred in the hosts during a tick-free period of 24 days after the third challenge.