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Rising tick pesticide resistance threatens South Africa’s cattle industry

14 August 2024 | Story Martinette Brits | Photo Supplied

Ticks that feed on South Africa’s cattle are developing resistance to the only effective pesticides, making them increasingly difficult to control. If this issue is not addressed, the spread of these parasites and their resistance to pesticides could significantly impact farmers' incomes and food security.

According to a study by Dr Luther van der Mescht, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Zoology and Entomology, many tick populations in South Africa are resistant to at least two of the three main types of acaricides (chemical classes) used in the country.

Dr Van der Mescht notes that with around 12 million cattle in South Africa, these ticks not only lower meat and milk production but also carry pathogens that can cause potentially fatal diseases. He estimates that the economic losses from tick-borne diseases and the use of acaricides could reach up to R670 million annually in the cattle industry alone.

He adds that South Africa's agricultural sector is unique due to its dual farming system, which includes both subsistence and commercial farmers, amplifying the impact of ticks. “The country is also home to a wide variety of tick species that transmit numerous pathogens across a diverse range of habitats and climates in which cattle are farmed. Consequently, the effects of ticks and tick-borne diseases in South Africa may be more severe compared to those in developed countries.”

Dr Van der Mescht highlights that ticks are developing resistance primarily due to poor farm management practices, such as underdosing, overdosing, and excessive use of acaricides. “Additionally, insufficient government support in educating farmers and managing resistance exacerbates the problem.”

Managing acaricide resistance

Dr Van der Mescht explains that while ticks will inevitably develop resistance to acaricides, this usually happens much slower if pesticides are used strategically. To slow the development of resistance, several measures can be implemented:

• Minimise the number of acaricide treatments.

• Assess tick diversity and acaricide resistance at the farm level and monitor it regularly. The study found that acaricide resistance was highly variable across South Africa, likely due to different farm management practices; hence it should be assessed at the farm level.

• Quarantine animals when transferring them to a new farm, ensuring they are free of ticks before releasing them.

• Rotate acaricides from different chemical classes, with a gap of at least two years between applications.

• Government veterinary services should raise awareness about acaricide resistance and provide support, particularly to under-resourced farmers. Establishing acaricide resistance testing laboratories would help monitor resistance and offer guidance to farmers.

Expert in parasitology

Dr Van der Mescht is particularly fascinated by the fact that most animals on earth follow a parasitic way of life. He graduated with a PhD in Conservation Ecology from the Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology at Stellenbosch University in 2015, focusing on rodent parasites.

Career highlights include receiving the Wilhelm Neitz Memorial Scholarship in Parasitology from the Parasitological Society of Southern Africa (PARSA) for study abroad, and the Blaustein Centre for Scientific Cooperation Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2016 from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel, to conduct research on the experimental evolution of host specialisation. He also received the Claude Leon Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2019 to study the cat flea at Stellenbosch University’s Department of Botany and Zoology.

With over four years of experience in the industry at a contract research organisation, he has conducted more than 40 clinical studies for international pharmaceutical companies and published over 50 peer-reviewed scientific articles.

Making research visible, impactful, and relevant to society

Dr Van der Mescht recently published an article for The Conversation and participated in interviews with eNCA, Newzroom Afrika, and Cape Talk to discuss his research. “This effort aligns with the Vision 130 strategy of being a regionally engaged university and supports one of the key pillars of research development at the University of the Free State (UFS), which is to make our research visible, impactful, and relevant to society.”

He also highlighted the significance of popular science, noting that it helps scientists communicate their research to a broader audience, build their professional reputation, enhance their funding opportunities, and improve their research outcomes.

News Archive

Historians must place African history on world stage – Dr Zeleza

2017-05-30

From the left: Panellists Rev Henry Jackson,
Prof Irikidzayi Manase and Arno Van Niekerk at a book
launch and panel discussion on Africa Day hosted by the
UFS Sasol Library.
Photo: Mamosa Makaya

“African historians must take seriously the challenge of placing African history in world history, and in the history of our species, Homo sapiens.”

With these words, Dr Paul Tiyambe Zeleza, Vice Chancellor of the United States International University-Africa in Nairobi, Kenya, stressed the continent’s challenge.

According to him the contest should continue to recover and reconstruct Africa’s long history. Liberating African knowledges can be done by: “Provincialising Europe that has monopolised universality, universalising Africa beyond its Eurocentric provincialisation, and engaging histories of other continents on their own terms.”

University celebrates Africa Month in various ways
Dr Zeleza delivered the ninth Africa Day Memorial Lecture, titled The Decolonisation of African Knowledges, at the University of the Free State (UFS). The lecture, hosted by the Centre for Africa Studies (CAS), took place on 24 May 2017 in the Equitas Auditorium on the Bloemfontein Campus and was one of the ways in which the UFS celebrated Africa Month.

Scholars should immerse themselves in these thoughts
Dr Zeleza focused on two issues, which he said were interconnected. They were the unfinished project of decolonising African knowledges and the continent's positioning in global knowledge production.

He said Africa’s scholars and students should “immerse themselves in the rich traditions of African social thought going back millennia”. According to him the continent’s research profile still remains weak in global terms.

“It is imperative that the various key stakeholders in African higher education from governments to the general public to parents, and to students, faculty, staff, and administrators in the academic institutions themselves, raise the value proposition of African higher education for 21st century African societies, economies, and polities.”

“Colonialism is associated with injustice
and inequality, but what happens when
our liberators become our oppressors?”

Library celebrates with panel discussion and book launch
The UFS Sasol Library celebrated Africa Day by presenting a book launch and panel discussion on 25 May 2017, on the pertinent and current political theme of land redistribution with a comparative basis of land invasions in Zimbabwe.

Prof Irikidzayi Manase discussed his book White Narratives: The Depiction of Post-2000 Land Invasions in Zimbabwe, accompanied by Rev Henry Jackson who wrote Another Farm in Africa. A perspective of the economic implications of land redistribution in South Africa was discussed by panellist Arno Van Niekerk: Senior Lecturer of Economics at the UFS Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences.

Inequality still an African problem
The content of the books are a stark reminder of the burning issues of inequality and loss of identity of those who lost their farms in Zimbabwe, a collection of memoirs by white farmers and their families. Rev Jackson gave a religious perspective on reconciliation, forgiveness and the question of land ownership, saying that healing of injustice begins with forgiveness of past transgressions.

Van Niekerk highlighted that while land issues were important, “social cohesion is affected by the economic decisions that will be made”. In closing, Prof Manase called for serious consideration of what the future may hold. “Colonialism is associated with injustice and inequality, but what happens when our liberators become our oppressors?”

The panel discussion was attended by staff and students of the university, and was lit up by robust discussions on possible historical and future solutions to the question of land, decolonisation and political power struggles in Southern Africa and lessons to be learned from Zimbabwe.

UFS celebrates Africa Month (24 May 2017)

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