Partial selective treatment of Rhipicephalus microplus and breed resistance variation in beef cows in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

Rhipicephalus microplus infestation causes heavy losses in cattle. The majority of farmers control the cattle tick by using long-acting drugs throughout the year, which evidently increases selection pressure for drug resistance. Partial selective treatment (PST) may be used to directly reduce selection pressure by treating only the portion of the herd that is most infested.