Infestation and seasonal distribution of ruminants lice in Samsun province

Aim:Lice infestation is the most important in livestock production systems in the worldthat cause economic losses. Lice infestation of ruminants has not been adequately studied in our region and in Turkey. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of major lice infestationsand to identify the louse species found on sheep and cattle of Samsun province. Material and Method:The study was carried out during the season,November to Octoberof 2021- 2022 in the Samsun province.A total of 2055 cattle and 30 sheep farms were randomly visited.All the cattle and sheep on the farms were examined under light for the presence of lice. Lice were collected in tubes containing 70% ethanol for species determination.Lice were put in 10% KOH and left until the specimen became translucent in the laboratory. They were removed from the KOH and passed through grades of ethanol (50, 70, 80, 90, 95 and 100%) andsome of the lice species were kept in a solution (chlorate hydrate 40 g. + acetic acid 30cc + distilled water 30cc)and covered with a cover slip, using Canada balsam diluted in xylene. Lice were identified under microscope using the keys according to the literatures of some authors. The data was analyzed by using SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 20 (IBM, USA). Results: In the current study of total of 2055 cattle and 3165 sheep for the presenceof lice infestationswere revealed the presence of 2 species of lice belonging to 2 genera in cattle and 1 speciesof lice belonging to 1 genus in sheep. Overall infestation rates of cattle and sheep were found to be 18% and 26.6%, respectively. The following species were found: B. bovis, L. vituli on cattle and B. ovis on sheep. Keywords:Cattle, Infestation, Lice, Sheep, Samsun