A national survey of Ixodidae ticks on privately owned dogs in Italy

Abstract

BackgroundThe geographical distribution of ticks on companion animals needs to be monitored to develop and plan effective control measures, as suggested by the European Scientific Counsel on Companion Animal Parasites. The aim of this study was to conduct the first Italian national survey of tick distribution on privately owned dogs.MethodsThe study was performed over 20 months (February 2016 - September 2017) and involved 153 veterinary practices in 64 different provinces covering 17/20 (85%) Italian regions. Participating practitioners were asked to examine five different dogs per month at random and complete a questionnaire for each dog. Differences in tick infestation associated with: sex, age and hair length (long and short); the dog’s habitat (indoor or outdoor/kennel); and the dog’s environment (urban or rural/sylvatic) were evaluated. The attachment site of ticks on the dog was also recorded. Acaricide efficacy was evaluated for the subset of dogs for which complete information on product used, date of sampling and date of last ectoparasiticide treatment was available.ResultsOf the 3026 dogs examined, 1383 (45.7%) were carrying at least one tick. Overall, 2439 tick samples were collected and a total of 14 tick species identified. Rhipicephalus sanguineus group were the most predominant ticks (63.6%), followed by Ixodes ricinus (30.6%) and I. hexagonus (5.6%). Twenty-four dogs had mixed tick infestations. Long-haired dogs had a higher tick infestation risk as did dogs with outdoor and rural/sylvatic lifestyles. Ticks were located on the head (37.4%), the neck (28.8%), the muzzle (15.5%) and the back (15.3%). A higher prevalence of Rhipicephalus was found in the interdigital spaces (10.8%) compared to Ixodes (0.2%). Finally, ectoparasiticide treatments were found significantly protective against tick infestation, especially orally administered formulations.ConclusionsPrivately owned dogs in Italy have a high prevalence (45.7%) of infestation with ixodid ticks and this risk varies by dog phenotype and lifestyle.

Diversity, ecology, and seasonality of hard ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) in eastern Croatia

“…These two tick species often parasitize wild carnivores in Romania (D’ Amico et al ). In Italy, coinfestation with two different tick species was found in 1.7% of examined dogs (Maurelli et al ) and in Greece on 6.7% of dogs (Latrofa et al ), while in this study we found coinfestation on 13.3% of dogs. Most of the coinfested animals were parasitized by D. reticulatus in association with D. marginatus , H. inermis, and I. ricinus .…”

Molecular Survey on Vector-Borne Pathogens in Alpine Wild Carnivorans

“…Moreover, the detection of B. vulpes DNA in unfed Dermacentor reticulatus ticks in Austria (53) may suggest a possible role of this tick species as well. In the study area, both I. hexagonus and D. reticulatus have been described infesting privately owned dogs (54).…”

“…To date, only Rhipicephalus turanicus has been considered as an additional definitive host for this parasite (60), while Dermacentor spp., Haemaphysalis concinna and Ixodes ricinus have proved to harbor parasite DNA (35,61). In Northern Italy, both the proved and the suspected vectors of H. canis have been reported in dogs (54) and humans (62). Predation has been proved to be an alternative route for Hepatozoon americanum infection, a closely related species endemic in the United States (63), thus suggesting a similar transmission way for H. canis.…”

Tick-borne pathogens in Ixodidae ticks collected from privately-owned dogs in Italy: a country-wide molecular survey

“…When pets like domestic dogs are involved, they are perceived by public opinion as a significant threat to both animal and human health [4,7,8]. Protozoa of the genera Babesia/Theileria were detected in 27.6% of the examined tick pools, with a higher prevalence in I. ricinus, which is the second most frequently reported tick affecting Italian dogs [23]. [45].…”

“…In Italy, several efforts have been made to evaluate the prevalence of circulating tick-borne pathogens in ticks collected from dogs [21,22], although limited to certain areas. In order to better understand the distribution of TBPs in Italy, we propose the first large-scale molecular survey on TBPs harbored in ticks collected from privately-owned dogs [23]. We selected as target TBPs protozoa of the genera Babesia and Theileria, bacteria belonging to the family Anaplasmataceae and to the Borrelia burgdorferi s.l.…”