Location: Cattle Fever Tick Research Unit
Project Number: 3094-32000-042-041-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Jul 15, 2019
End Date: Apr 30, 2022
Objective:
Enhance efficiency of spray formulations, and spraying procedures used by the Cattle Fever Tick Eradication Program by developing electrospraying technology for use with acaricides formulated in water.
Approach:
The Cattle Fever Tick Eradication Program faces challenges with the technology used to spray cattle and horses with coumaphos. There is a need for improved spraying technology that can decrease spray volumes while maintaining the efficacy of the acaricide used. Previous studies also showed that the Program can benefit from using safer acaricides prepared in plant oil and able to eliminate fever ticks resistant to pyrethroid and organophosphate acaricides. Electrospraying offers the opportunity to decrease spray volumes and to use oil-based formulations of safer acaricides. However, the preference is to use water-based acaricide formulations, which are more economical. Thus, the objective of this research project is to develop a electrospraying system that can be used with water-based acaricide formulations. ARS identified safer acaricides that can be formulated in water for efficacy testing. Pilot testing will be conducted to spray cattle at the ARS Cattle Fever Tick Research Laboratory. Three cattle will be sprayed with the electrosprayer using acaricide formulated in water and other three will be sprayed with same formulation but using standard spraying method. Characteristics of the two spraying technologies will be compared.
