Ticks are one of the most important ectoparasites of cattle which cause serious economic loss through mortality of animals, decreased production, down grading and rejection
of skin and hide. A cross sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence and distribution of tick with respect to related potential risk factors in Babille district,
eastern Ethiopia. Standard physical and direct stereomicroscopy techniques were employed for identification of ticks.
Out of the total 384 cattle examined, 360 (93.8%) were found to be infested by tick parasites. A total of 1984 adult ticks were collected from the animal body parts and were
identified to genera and species level. Four species of ixodidae ticks were identified from the study area. Among the ticks, Amblyomma cohaerens (41.5%) was the most
prevalent, while Amblyomma variegatum was the least prevalent (6.5%) tick species recorded in the study. All species of ticks had more than one male to female ratio
except Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) decoloratus (0.001:1). There was no statistically significant association between associated risk factors and tick prevalence except for
body condition score. Cattle with poor body condition have significantly (p=0.02) higher tick burden than cattle with the other body condition scores. All tick species were
distributed and attached with statistically significant (p=0.00) variation among different parts of the body of cattle, while all ticks inflict significantly diverse (p<0.05) types of
lesion except A. variegatum. Overall, the present study revealed very high prevalence of tick infestation that could potentially hamper the productivity of cattle in the study
area. Hence, a strategic control method should be put in place to combat and reduce the adverse effect of tick infestation in cattle in the area.