The enigma of the dog mummy from Ancient Egypt and the origin of ‘Rhipicephalus sanguineus’

Abstract

BackgroundTicks belonging to the Rhipicephalus sanguineus group are amongst the most important vectors of pathogenic microorganisms to dogs and humans. However, the taxonomy of this species group is still the subject of debate, especially because there is no type specimen or reliable morphological description for Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu stricto. Recently, a comprehensive morphological and genetic study on representative tick specimens from Europe, Africa, Americas, and Oceania, revealed the existence of at least four morphologically and genetically distinct species under the name ‘R. sanguineus’ infesting dogs from different countries.MethodsHerein, we examined morphologically tick specimens retrieved on a dog mummy from Ancient Egypt (ca. 1st century – 4th century A.D.). The dog mummy and associated ticks were found during an archaeological expedition conducted in El Deir.ResultsScanning electron micrographs allowed us to assess their identity as belonging to the R. sanguineus group. In addition on the basis of the scutal punctation pattern, spiracular plates, width of dorsal tail of spiracular plates relative to the adjacent festoon, female genital aperture, male adanal plates and accessory shields, these ticks were tentatively identified as Rhipicephalus sp. II (=temperate species).ConclusionsIt can be concluded that R. sanguineus group ticks have infested dogs living in the Mediterranean region since ancient times. This finding represents the oldest record of ticks on any animal species and adds a new piece in the complex puzzle regarding tick parasitism on dogs and humans and their role as vectors of pathogens.

Did disease constrain the spread of domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) into Sub-Saharan Africa?

“…Mediterranean Europe, but likely to be of African origin, consistent with the largely Sub-Saharan distribution of the genus as a whole (Otranto et al 2014). Following infection with E. canis, incubation takes between eight and 20 days (with a mean of 14), with the disease first taking an acute form, followed by an apparent subclinical recovery stage and then further chronic symptoms when the immune system is suppressed and multiple organ dysfunction presents (especially in the liver and kidneys), accompanied by severe anaemia and haemorrhaging (Davoust et al 2014).…”

Dirofilaria immitis and Angiostrongylus vasorum: the contemporaneous detection in kennels

“…Different predictive studies, conducted using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) tools [ 15 , 16 ], confirmed a correlation between the actual trend of D. immitis spread and the temperature increase into previously infection free areas as demonstrated also in a questionnaire survey by Genchi et al, [ 31 ] where an increasing number of positive cases to D. immitis was detected in non- endemic area (10 %) and in endemic- area (12 %) of Europe.…”

Attraction of phlebotomine sandflies to volatiles from skin odors of individuals residing in an endemic area of tegumentary leishmaniasis

“…( N .) intermedia , are attracted by (E)-oct-3-en-1-ol (hereafter called octenol) [ 16 , 17 , 19 , 20 ], a VOC present in both human breath and sweat [ 21 , 22 ]. Based on these findings, octenol has been successfully used as a positive control for phlebotomine sandfly attraction in laboratory assays involving L .…”