Abstract
Tephrosia vogelii (T. vogelii) is a known tropical leguminous herb for fixing nitrogen in the soil and as pesticide properties. Its crude leaf extract was evaluated as a natural acaricide to control ticks on naturally infested traditionally reared cattle in selected areas of Monze District of Zambia. Experimental animals were selected from herds of cattle with poor or no history of any conventional tick control and were divided into six treatment groups of five animals per set which were sprayed with 5, 10, 20 and 40% w/v of T. vogelii leaf extract bio-acaricide solution. A negative control group of five animals were sprayed with ordinary water, while a positive group with a commercial acaricide (Amitraz(®)) at a recommended dosage of 1:500 dilution. Half-body tick counts then doubled were conducted on each animal, before and at twenty-four hourly intervals of: 24 (1 day), 48 (2 days), 96 (3 days), 192 (4 days), 384 (5 days) and 768 (6 days) after treatment. The observed tick reductions were found to be statistically significant at all treatment levels (p value < 0.001). With this performance, there was evidence to show that the herbal extract was effective against ticks. The results showed significant and sustained efficacy T. vogelii extract from day 2 to day 6 after treatment. There was no significant difference at 5, 10, 20 and 40 w/v in the observed efficacies between low and high concentrations of the bio-acaricide used. We conclude that T. vogelii could be used to spray animals against ticks, especially in low-income communities and also in setups where organic farming is practiced.