Ticks collection
Ticks were collected manually from domestic animals (goats, sheep, cattle and horses) by using forceps into 50 mL Nalgene tubes that contained 70% ethanol taking precautionary measures to avoid mix-up of samples on the basis of animals and collection sites as tubes were properly labelled accordingly and were stored at 4°C until further processing (Iweriebor et al., 2017). All tick species collected were identified using morphological criteria and appropriate taxonomic keys and processed accordingly (Iweriebor et al., 2017; Yawa et al., 2019; Walker et al., 2003; Williamson et al., 2010). Ticks genders were not taken into consideration as it does not affect its ability to transmit pathogens