Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato from dogs and dromedary camels in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: low prevalence of vector-borne pathogens in dogs detected using multiplexed tandem PCR panel

Abstract

Despite the global distribution of the brown dog tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus (Latreille, 1806) sensu lato (s.l.), limited information exists about their identity from the Arabian Peninsula. Ticks from free roaming urban dogs and dromedary camels in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia were morphologically identified, confirmed with scanning electron microscopy and characterised at mitochondrial DNA (cox1, 12S rDNA and 16S rDNA). A total of 186 ticks were collected from 65 free roaming dogs (n = 73) and 84 dromedary camels (n = 113). Morphologically, 5.9% (11/186) were R. sanguineus s.l. and Hyalomma spp. (93.5%, 174/186). From within R. sanguineus s.l., the presence of Rhipicephalus cf. camicasi Morel, Mouchet et Rodhain, 1976 (1 dog, 2 camels) and Rhipicephalus turanicus Pomerantsev, 1936 (1 camel) is reported. The examined R. cf. camicasi form a sister group to R. sanguineus s.l. tropical lineage at all DNA markers. Dogs were parasitised by Hyalomma dromedarii Koch, 1844 (n = 59), Hyalomma impeltatum Schulze et Schlottke, 1930 (n = 1), Hyalomma excavatum Koch, 1844 (n = 2), Hyalomma turanicum Pomerantsev, 1946 (n = 1) and Hyalomma rufipes Koch,1844 (n = 1). DNA from dog blood (n = 53) from Riyadh confirmed a low prevalence of canine vector-borne pathogens that does not exceed 5.7% for Babesia spp., Mycoplasma spp., Anaplasma platys, Hepatozoon canis and Ehrlichia canis using multiplexed tandem PCR (MT-PCR) and diagnostic PCR. Low prevalence of R. sanguineus s.l. on dogs likely contributed to the low level of canine vector-borne pathogens in Saudi Arabia. We demonstrate that dogs in the central Arabian Peninsula are more commonly parasitised by Hyalomma spp. than R. sanguineus s.l.

Ticks and associated pathogens in camels (Camelus dromedarius) from Riyadh Province, Saudi Arabia

“…While R. sanguineus (s.l.) was not found on camels in this study, this tick is known to occur on dogs in Riyadh [61].…”

Application of advanced molecular techniques to detect vector borne pathogens from stray dogs and cats in two different climatic zones of Saudi Arabia

“…sanguineus can develop well under different conditions in terms of temperature (e.g., 20-35°C) and relative humidity (e.g., 35-95%) [47]. In a previous study Chandra et al, (2019) have shown that H. Dromedarii is the most common tick parasitising dogs in Riyadh province.This tick preferentially parasitises camels, although has been known to parasitise other ungulates [48,49]. In this study, we did not collected ticks from dogs and cats from Asir province hence it is difficult to conclude the presence of these parasites in Asir province but not in Riyadh province.…”

“…Most of the detected pathogens are vectored by Rhipicephalus sanguineus (s.l), a tick species displaying a worldwide geographical distribution [7,36]. Rh.…”

“…Tick infestations of dogs and cats are common in Saudi Arabia and mainly involves Hyalomma dromedarii (Koch, 1844) and Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensulato (s.l. )(Latreille, 1806) [6,7], which is a competentvector of diseases such as anaplasmosis, babesiosis, ehrlichiosis, hepatozoonosis and different Rickettsia species, among others [8].…”

“…Studies in countries situated in and around the Middle Eastreport the presence of vector-borne pathogens including Anaplasma platys, Ehrlichia canis, Bartonella spp.,and Babesia spp. in dogs and cats [9,13,14,15,16,17,18,19].Currently, limited studies have examined the presence of vector-borne disease in dogs and cats in Saudi Arabia [7,20,21,22,23]. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of vector-borne pathogens in dogs and cats in two different climatic zones of Saudi Arabia using a commercial diagnostic MT-PCR panel for the detection of Babesia gibsoni, Babesia vogeli, Mycoplasma haematoparvum, Mycoplasma haemocanis, Mycoplasma haemofelis, Anaplasma platys and Bartonella species.…”