Presence of Ctenocephalides canis (Curtis) and Ctenocephalides felis (Bouché) Infesting Dogs In the City of Aguascalientes, México

Abstract

Prevalence and seasonal distribution of Ctenocephalides canis (Curtis) and Ctenocephalides felis (Bouché) infestations in urban dogs of the city of Aguascalientes, Mexico, were studied. Between January and December 2007, 863 dogs in the Municipal Canine and Feline Control Center were examined. Overall prevalence of infestation was 12% (95% CI 10-14). Seasonal distribution revealed that prevalences in spring and summer were highest, while autumn and winter had lower prevalences. Two infestation peaks were observed, i.e., in April (17.7%) and July (18.9%). A positive correlation was detected between prevalence and temperature during the winter season (P < 0.05). Prevalence in relation to gender showed that males were more frequently infested, 14% (95% CI 11-17), than females, 9.4% (95% CI 7-13); hair length did not affect differences in prevalence. Six hundred twenty-nine fleas were examined; 62% were C. canis and 38% C. felis . Dogs infested with only C. canis were 48% (95% CI 38-58), while 18% were infested only with C. felis (95% CI 11-27); the remainder, 34% (95% CI 24-44), had mixed infestations.

Flea (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae) prevalence and first record of Ctenocephalides canis (Curtis, 1826) in domestic dogs in north-central México

“…It could be noted the presence of the pronatal comb (with six spines for both species), as well as the rounded margin in the case of C. canis; however, the head has a longer and more pronunced angle in C. felis. It is notably to highlight that the two species were found as mixed infestation in the studied dogs; however, C. felis was the most prevalent flea (Table 1), as stated by Beugnet et al 4 In the scientific literature, there are reports of mixed infections by C. canis and C. felis, 11,15,17 similar to the observations in our study, were all the positive dogs presented infestation of at least one specimen of both species. It is known that the presence of C. canis has more restricted geographic distribution, and that the presence of C. felis has increased, even displacing C. canis, from which the reasons are not well.…”

“…Our results are in agreement with the report of Beugnet et al 4 who mentioned that in the domestic dog the most prevalent flea species around the world is C. felis. In our study, the prevalence observed for C. felis was of 92%, surpassing the 38% reported by Hernández-Valdivia et al 11 in Aguascalientes, México; as well as the 46.4% reported by Orozco-Murillo et al 17 in Valle de Aburrá, Colombia, and the 16.3% reportead by Rinaldi et al 15 in Campania, Italia. The obtained prevalence in this study (2.3%) with respect to C. canis, contrasts with the report of Nuchjangreed and Somprasong, 18 in Pattaya, district of Thailand, where they found this flea species in 11.7% of the examined dogs; while Jafari-Sohoorijeh et al 19 in Shiraz, Iran, reported a prevalence of 13.7%, and Cruz-Vázquez et al 10 in Cuernavaca, Morelos a total of 16.8% of C. canis in infested dogs respectively.…”

“…It is known that the presence of C. canis has more restricted geographic distribution, and that the presence of C. felis has increased, even displacing C. canis, from which the reasons are not well. 11 In the present study, more than 90% of the specimens were C. felis.…”

“…5,6 However, in the last years fleas have been implicated as potential vectors of bacteria belonging to the "Spotted Fever" rickettsia, new genotypes of Bartonella, as well as Coxiella burnetii, Mycoplasma haemominutum, Mycoplasma haemofelis, Anaplasma ovis, A. marginale, A. phagocytophilum, and Ehrlichia canis. [7][8][9] In México, reports over the presence of C. canis and C. felis parasitizing domestic dogs in the central and south part of the country; [10][11][12] nevertheless, in the north-central part there are no reports over the presence of these flea species parasitizing domestic dogs. The objective of the present study was to identify the flea species that parasitize domestic dogs of Gomez Palacio and Lerdo, in Durango state, México.…”

Checklist of ectoparasites of Canidae and Felidae in Mexico

“…Ctenocephalides canis (Curtis, 1826) AGUASCALIENTES: Aguascalientes: Canis lupus familiaris (Hernández-Valdivia et al 2011). No specimens in collections.…”