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Ticks and tick-borne diseases as a constraint to sheep and goat production in Italy. Selected features.

The paper reviews basic information on small ruminant production in Italy and on the tick species commonly found on them. A total of 13 Ixodidae species have been reported to parasitise sheep in the country. The tick species were belonging to five genera: Ixodes (two species), Haemaphysalis (four species), Dermacentor (one species), Rhipicephalus (three species) and Hyalomma (three species). The same species, with the exception of Haemaphysalis inermis and Hyalomma detritum have been reported also on goats. Scarse data are available on the impact of tick borne diseases on small ruminants productivity. The zoonotic role which may be played by ticks in transmitting occupationally acquired diseases to people involved in animal husbandry and to common public which may accidentally invade grazing areas is also discussed.