Ticks on livestock in St. Lucia.

Cattle, sheep, goats and horses were examined for ticks. Over 95% of Holstein cross-breeds, 28% of sheep (local mixed breeds) and 18% of goats (local mixed breeds) examined from 18 August to 4 September 1983 were infested with the southern cattle tick, Boophilus microplus Canestrini. About 90 and 17% of the horses examined were infested with the tropical horse tick, Anocentor nitens Neumann, and the tropical bont tick, Amblyomma variegatum Fabricius, respectively. The tropical bont tick was found infesting 10% of cattle in the Gros Islet area of St. Lucia. The tropical bont tick was also found associated with a severe skin disease, dermatophilosis, caused by the bacterium Dermatophilus congolensis, in 54% of the cattle infested by A. variegatum in the Gros Islet and Dauphin areas of St. Lucia.