Skip to main content
. 2017 Jul 17;2017:8647919. doi: 10.1155/2017/8647919

Table 2.

Traditional prevention, control, and management of livestock ectoparasites by native and local communities.

Target livestock ectoparasite(s) A description of traditional remedy References
Small red flies (i) Setting smudge fires in the sheds
(ii) Rubbing kerosene and other substances on the animals
[66]

Tick infestation in livestock populations Piercing ticks with a needle or a blade [61, 67]
(i) Feeding salty plants to animals so that the ticks can fall off
(ii) Every morning, picking off and burning any ticks they find on their animals
(iii) Placing thorn bushes on infested places so that camels should not roll on them
(i) Pounding 5 leaves of Aloe broomii and mixing with 300 ml of paraffin oil and 2 handfuls of kitchen ash to make a paste for smearing on the infested parts of the animal
(ii) Use of hagar, Commiphora erythraea, or damaji, C. incisa, by Gabbra and Somali in Kenya
(iii) Smearing leaf paste of eteteleit, Acalypha fruticosa, by the Turkana in Kenya
(iv) Bathing animals with salt solution (~100 g of salt dissolved in 1 litre of water)
(v) Rubbing old engine oil on infested areas of the animal's body
(vi) Allowing animals to wallow in shallow, muddy pools
(vii) Using animal quarantine techniques to keep infected stock away from noninfected one
(viii) Removal of weeds and bushes from livestock housing
(ix) Predation of ticks by birds-keeping chickens in and around the animal housing
(x) Raising neem, Azadirachta indica, or other tick-repellent plants near animal housing
[67]
Use of tobacco, Nicotiana tabacum, by the Gikuyu in Kenya [45, 67]
(i) Avoiding infested pastures, fodder, shade trees, and cool places which favour ticks' survival
(ii) Burning of livestock pastures and tick-infested manure in the sheds
[61, 67]
Drenching animals with a mixture of salt and six ground fruits by the Twareg [68]
Handpicking of ticks during milking by Fulani women and children in Burkina Faso [60]
Use of toasted maych'a  leaves to drive out ear ticks in herd animals in Peruvian Andes [69]
A herbal preparation pestban in control of ectoparasites in household pets and domesticated animals in India [70, 71]
Acaricidal activity of the combination of plant crude extracts to tropical cattle ticks (Boophilus microplus) in India [72, 73]
A herbal ectoparasiticide AV/EPP/14 against lice and tick infestation on buffalo and cattle in India [74]

Livestock insects Lighting smudge fires beside resting buffalo, cattle, Amerindian horses, Siberian reindeer, and Andean guinea pigs [59, 66, 75, 76]

Livestock pests Andeans burnt old tires in corrals [39]
In Andean region, corrals were sprinkled with lime, kerosene, or creosote on affected animals [77]
Seasonal burning of rangelands used for grazing in Andes and Africa [39]
A herbal preparation pestban in control of ectoparasites in household pets and domesticated animals [70, 71]

Parasitic Insects Fumigation of animal quarters and camps with herbs by Nigerian Pastoralists [63, 71]

Tsetse flies Washing cattle with an infusion of Sesbania aculeata, ointments, dust, and tobacco by Nigerian pastoralists [63]
(i) Bathing animals' body with emulsion made from roots of Cissus purpurea
(ii) Bathing animals' body with emulsion made from leaves of Sesbania sesban in Kenya
(iii) Smearing the oil of neem, Azadirachta indica, seed kernels on animals' bodies
(iv) Smearing the latex of Euphorbia balsamifera on the bodies of affected animals
[67]

Livestock biting flies (i) Nigerian horses bathed with fly-repellent liquids
(ii) Yoruba employed soap mixed with graded roots of the violet tree
(iii) Northern Nigerians applied tobacco-based ointment
[75]
Venezuelan fly repellent was a wash of squash-leaf juice [78]
(i) Washing animals with a suspension of fresh root of anthata  of Gabbra in Kenya
(ii) Smoke from burning cow dung drove the flies away
(iii) Position livestock sheds to allow wind to blow flies away and avoid flies-infested areas
[67]

Livestock fleas and lice A herbal ectoparasiticide AV/EPP/14 against lice and tick infestation on buffalo and cattle in India [74]
(i) Sweep livestock sheds with brooms of Tagetes minuta (Mexican marigold) or desert rose, Adenium obesum, or burn T. minuta leaves in sheds and wash cattle with A. obesum
(ii) Sprinkling Magadi soda powder in sheds or wash animals with suspension of A. obesum
(iii) Wash animals with suspension of Aloe spp. (A. secundiflora, A. kedongensis, and A. lateritia)
[67, 70, 71, 74]

Livestock lice per se (i) Wash animals with suspension of Aloe spp. and sisal, Agave sisalana
(ii) Smearing cattle with mixtures of fruits of adekelait  and akej etom  of Turkana in Kenya
(iii) Wash animals with suspension of garlic, Allium sativum
(iv) Use of eucalyptus, blue gum, Eucalyptus spp.
(vi) Rubbing camel's urine on the infested animals' skins
(vii) Smearing a mixture of camel's urine and salty soil on animal's skin
(viii) Smearing cow dung on the infested body areas of the animals
(ix) Smearing goats', donkeys', sheep's, and camel bones' fat over the animals' bodies
(x) Washing affected animals with natural salty water
(xi) Rubbing a paste of clay (dhoobo in Somali) on the affected animals
(xii) Shaving camels' hair and rubbing skin with a mixture of camel's urine and salty soil
(xiii) A herbal preparation pestban in control of ectoparasites in household pets and domesticated animals
(xiv) A herbal ectoparasiticide AV/EPP/14 against lice and tick infestation on buffalo and cattle

Nasal bots (i) Putting in nostril a suspension of root of abach  by the Turkana of Kenya
(ii) Keeping animals away from thickets in the rainy season
(iii) Giving animals drinking water at salty sources to enable them expel the larvae
(iv) Putting in nostril a suspension of root of entulelei(Solanum incanum) or olgrigiri  (Acacia brevispica) by the Maasai of Kenya
(v) Putting in nostril juice from ripe fruits of sodom apple, S. incanum, by Kamba people
(vi) Putting in nostril a teaspoonful of root suspension of Ingalayioi (Cucumis sp.) by the Samburu of Kenya
(vii) Putting sheep milk into nostrils of affected animals to make them sneeze out maggots
(viii) Passing in nostril smoke of the bark of Ingeriyioi  or Imasei  (Tarenna graveolens) by the Samburu of Kenya

Leeches (i) Use of tobacco, Nicotiana tabacum, and Saali le tim  suspension by Samburu in Kenya
(ii) Avoiding leech-infested areas and physically removing attached leeches from animals
[67]

Swine ectoparasites Banana leaves and an extract of garlic in Central Brazil [79]

Chicken lice A wash of vinegar and lemon juice by Andean people [39]

Skin sores of cattle Dust with the powdered dung of ostriches and hyenas by the Neur [59]

Lice and mites A herbal preparation pestban in control of ectoparasites in household pets and domesticated animals [70, 71]
Andean stockowners used barbasco [80]

Mange/scabies caused by ectoparasitic mites Root of Rumex patientia L. [81]
Latex from Euphorbia somaliensis or camel urine [82]
An infusion of Iphiona rotundifolia plant [61]
Rubbing rhubarb and caustics into the mange lesions in China [83]
Rubbing a decoction of tobacco leaves into the mange lesions by Bulgarian nomads [39]
Topical application of wild tobacco leaves and black soap by the Andeans
Andean muna (Minthostachys andina) and tarwi plant (Lupinus mutabilis) provide treatment for mange
In France, milk, vinegar, olive oil, lard, ashes, soot, sulphur, turpentine, crankcase oil, and mineral waters were administered as pomades, plasters, lotions, drenches, or feeds. [39, 84]
(i) Washing animals with a suspension of (Oldarakwa) pencil cedar, Juniperus procera
(ii) Drenching and smearing animals with a suspension of ash made from branches of Ng'adapala (Dobera glabra) by Kenyan pastoralists (Turkana)
(iii) Keeping animals' pens and surroundings clean and dry
(iv) Using animal quarantine techniques to keep infected stock away from noninfected one
(v) Smearing motor oil and or sesame oil on the affected areas of the animals
(vi) Turkana people use a suspension made from stems of eligoi to drench and wash animals
(vii) Use of Iparaa, Euphorbia sp., by Samburu of Kenya
(viii) Powdered charcoal of esekon (toothbrush tree), Salvadora persica mixed with 1 litre of ghee to make a paste for topical application by the Turkana
[67]

Alpaca mange (caused by mites) Use of pig fat, rancid camelid grease, boiling-hot lard, rancid urine, sulphur, stove ash, soot from earthen cookpots, masticated coca leaf, old motor oil, and battery acid [81, 8589]

Ruminant ectoparasites Water of tarwi plant, L. mutabilis, combined with ash of burnt cattle manure [69, 90]
Compounds of tarwi plant, L. mutabilis, and other botanicals by Andean smallholders [86, 91]