Articles

A Survey on Ectoparasite Infestations in Companion Dogs of Ahvaz District, South-west of Iran

Abstract

Background: The objective was to determine the prevalence of ectoparasite infestations in referred companion dogs to veterinary hospital of Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, from 2009 to 2010.
Methods:A total of 126 dogs were sampled for ectoparasites and examined by parasitological methods. The studied animals were grouped based on the age (<1 year, 1–3 years and >3 years), sex, breed and region.
Results: Thirty six out of 126 referred dogs (28.57%) were positive for external ectoparasites. The most common ectoparasites were Heterodoxus spinigera, which were recorded on 11 dogs (8.73%). Rhipicephalus sanguineus, Sarcoptes scabiei, Otodectes cynotis, Xenopsylla cheopis, Cetenocephalides canis, Cetenocephalides felis, Hip­pobosca sp. and myiasis (L3 of Lucilia sp.) were identified on 9 (7.14%), 7 (5.56%), 6 (4.76%), 3 (2.38%), 3 (2.38%), 2 (1.59%), 2 (1.59%) and one (0.79%) of the studied dogs respectively. Mixed infestation with two species of ectoparasites was recorded on 8 (6.35%). Prevalence was higher in male dogs (35.82%; 24 out of 67) than females (20.34%; 12 out of 59), age above 3 years (31.81%; 7 out of 22) and in the season of winter (30.95%; 13 out of 42), but the difference was not significant regarding to host gender, age and season (P>0.05).
Conclusion:Apparently this is the first study conducted in companion dogs of Ahvaz District, South-west of Iran. Our results indicated that lice and ticks were the most common ectoparasites in dogs of this area. The zoonotic nature of some ectoparasites can be regard as a public health alert.

Amin OM (1966) The fleas (Siphonaptera) of Egypt: distribution and seasonal dy- namics of fleas infesting dogs in the Nile valley and delta. J Med Entomol.3(3): 293–298.

Anonymus (1966) Pictorial Key to Arthro- pods, Reptiles, Birds and Mammals of Public Health Significance. Centers for Disease Control, United States Health Education and Welfare.

Anvar M, Eslami A, Mirza Yans A, Rak H (1972) List of Endoparasites and Ecto- parasites of Domesticated Animals of Iran. Tehran University Press, Tehran, Iran.

Araujo FR, Silva MP, Lopes AA, Ribeiro OC, Pires PP, Carvalho CM, Balbuena CB, Villas AA, Ramos JK (1998) Se- vere cat flea infestation of dairy calves in Brazil. Vet Parasitol. 80(1): 83–86.

Baker KP, Hatch C (1972) The species of flea found on Dublin dogs. Vet Rec.91(6): 151–152.

Beresford-Jones WP (1981) Prevalence of fleas on dogs and cats in an area of central London. J Small Anim Pract.22(1): 27–29.

Bryson NR, Horak IG, Hohn EW, Louw JP (2000) Ectoparasites of dogs belonging to people in resource-poor communi- ties in North West Province, South Af- rica. J S Afr Vet Assoc. 71(3): 175–179.

Chaligiannis I, Sotiraki S, Xanthopoulou K, Papa A (2009) Ticks parasitizing hu- mans in North-east Greece. 7th Ann Meet Eur Vet Parasitol Coll and 10th Bienn Symp. Ectoparasites in Pets (ISEP). Toulouse, France, Proc. p. 76.

Chee JH, Kwon JK, Cho HS, Cho KO, Lee YJ, Abd El-Aty AM, Shin SS (2008) A survey of ectoparasite infestations in stray dogs of Gwang-ju City, Republic of Korea. Korean J Parasitol. 46(1):23–27.

Chesney CJ (1995) Species of flea found on cats and dogs in south west England: further evidence of their polyxenous state and implications for flea control. Vet Rec. 136(14): 356–358.

Christensson D, Zakrisson G, Holm B, Gun- narsson L (1998) Prevalence of lice found on dogs in Sweden. Svensk Vet Tidn. 50: 189–191.

Coman BJ, Jones EH, Driesen MA (1981) Helminth parasites and arthropods of feral cats. Aust Vet J. 57(7): 324–327.

Curtis CF (2004) Current trends in the treatment of Sarcoptes, Cheyletiella and Otodectes mite infestation in dogs and cats. Vet Dermatol. 15(2): 108–114.

Dantas-Torres F (2008) The brown dog tick,Rhipicephalus sanguineus (Latreille,1806) (Acari: Ixodidae): from taxonomy to control. Vet Parasitol. 152(3-4): 173–185.

Dipeolu OO (1975) A survey of the ecto- parasitic infestations of dogs in Nige- ria. J Small Anim Pract. 16(1–12):123–129.

Estares L, Chavez A, Casas E (1999) Preva- lence of ectoparasites of Canis famil- iaris in the two districts of San Juan de Lurigancho, San Martin de Porres, Comas and independence of Lima. Rev Inv Vet Peru. 10(2): 1–9.

Estrada-Pena A, Venzal JM (2007) Climate Niches of Tick Species in the Mediter- ranean Region: Modeling of Occur- rence Data, Distributional Constraints, and Impact of Climate Change. J Med Entomol. 44(6): 1130–1138.

Foreyt WJ (2001) Veterinary Parasitology Reference Manual. 5th ed. Iowa State Press Ames, Iowa, USA.

Fournier PE, Durand JP, Rolain JM, Cami- cas JL, Tolou H, Raoult D (2003) De-tection of Astrakhan fever rickettsia from ticks in Kosovo. Ann New York Acad Sci. 990: 158–161.

Haas GE, Wilson N (1967) Pulex simulans and P. irritans on dogs in Hawaii (Si- phonaptera: Pulicidae). J Med Ento- mol. 4(1): 25–30.

Harman DW, Halliwell RE, Greiner EC (1987) Flea species from dogs and cats in north-central Florida. Vet Parasitol.23(1–2): 135–140.

Hewitt M, Walton GS, Waterhouse M (1971) Pet animal infestations and human skin lesions. Br J Dermatol.85(3): 215–225.

Horak IG (1982) Parasites of domestic and wild animals in south Africa. XIV. The seasonal prevalence of Rhipicephalus sanguineus and Ctenocephalides spp.On kenneled dogs in Pretoria north. Onderstepoort J Vet Res. 49(1): 63–68.

Jafari Shoorijeh S, Rowshan Ghasrodashti A, Tamadoni A, Moghaddar N, Behzadi MA (2008) Seasonal Fre- quency of Ectoparasite Infestation in Dogs from Shiraz, Southern Iran. Turk J Vet Anim Sci. 32(4): 309–313.

Kalkofen UP, Greenberg J (1974) Public health implications of Pulex irritans infestations of dogs. J Am Vet Med Assoc. 165(10): 903–905.

Kristensen S, Haarlov N, Mourier H (1978) A study of skin diseases in dogs and cats. Patterns of flea infestation in dogs and cats in Denmark. Nord Vet Med. 30(10): 401–413.

Kwochka KW (1987) Mites and related dis- ease. Vet Clin North Am Small Anim Pract. 17(6): 1263–1284.

Le Riche PD, Soe AK, Alemzada Q, Sharifi L (1988) Parasites of dogs in Kabul, Afghanistan. Br Vet J. 144(4): 370–373.

Linardi PM, Nagem RL (1973) Pulicidae and other ectoparasites on dogs of Belo Horizonte and neighbouring munici- palities. Rev Bras Biol. 33(4): 529–537.

Morariu S, Darabus G, Oprescu I, Mederle N, Moraru EG, Morariu F (2006) Etiology of flea infestation in dogs and cats from three counties of Romania. Rev Sci Parasitol. 6: 67–73.

Nayak DC, Tripathy SB, Dey PC, Ray SK, Mohanty DN, Parida GS, Biswal S, Das M (1997) Prevalence of canine demo- dicosis in Orissa (India). Vet Parasitol.73(3–4): 347–352.

Nuchjangreed C, Somprasong W (2007) Ectoparasite species found on domes- tic dogs from Pattaya district, Chon Buriprovince, Thailand. Southeast Asian J Trop Med Publ Health. 38(1): 203–207.

Rodriguez-Vivas RI, Ortega-Pacheco A, Rosado-Aguilar JA, Bolio GM (2003) Factors affecting the prevalence of mange-mite infestations in stray dogs of Yucatan, Mexico. Vet Parasitol. 115(1):61–65.

Scott DW, Miller WH, Griffin CE (2001) Muller and Kirk’s Small Animal Der- matology. 6th ed WB Saunders, Philadelphia, USA.

Ugochukwu EI, Nnadozie CC (1985) Ecto- parasitic infestation of dogs in Bendel State, Nigeria. Int J Zoonoses 12(4):308–312.

Xhaxhiu D, Kusi I, Rapti D, Visser M, Knaus M, Lindner T, Rehbein S (2009) Ectoparasites of dogs and cats in Albania. Parasitol Res. 105(6):1577–1587.

Zakson M, Gregory LM, Endris RG, Shoop WL (1995) Effect of combing time on cat flea (Ctenocephalides felis) recov- ery from dogs. Vet Parasitol. 60(1–2):149–153.

Zygner W, Wedrychowicz H (2006) Occur- rence of hard ticks in dogs from War- saw area. Ann Agric Environ Med.13(2): 355–359.

Files
IssueVol 6 No 1 (2012) QRcode
SectionArticles
Keywords
Dogs Ectoparasite Infestation Prevalence Iran

Rights and permissions
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
1.
Mosallanejad B, Alborzi A, Katvandi N. A Survey on Ectoparasite Infestations in Companion Dogs of Ahvaz District, South-west of Iran. J Arthropod Borne Dis. 1;6(1):70-78.