Ticks infesting domestic dogs in the UK: a large-scale surveillance programme

Abstract

BackgroundRecent changes in the distribution of tick vectors and the incidence of tick-borne disease, driven variously by factors such as climate change, habitat modification, increasing host abundance and the increased movement of people and animals, highlight the importance of ongoing, active surveillance. This paper documents the results of a large-scale survey of tick abundance on dogs presented to veterinary practices in the UK, using a participatory approach that allows relatively cost- and time-effective extensive data collection.MethodsOver a period of 16 weeks (April–July 2015), 1094 veterinary practices were recruited to monitor tick attachment to dogs and provided with a tick collection and submission protocol. Recruitment was encouraged through a national publicity and communication initiative. Participating practices were asked to select five dogs at random each week and undertake a thorough, standardized examination of each dog for ticks. The clinical history and any ticks were then sent to the investigators for identification.ResultsA total of 12,000 and 96 dogs were examined and 6555 tick samples from infested dogs were received. Ixodes ricinus (Linnaeus) was identified on 5265 dogs (89 %), Ixodes hexagonus Leach on 577 (9.8 %) and Ixodes canisuga Johnston on 46 (0.8 %). Ten dogs had Dermacentor reticulatus (Fabricius), one had Dermacentor variabilis (Say), three had Haemaphysalis punctata Canesteini & Fanzago and 13 had Rhipicephalus sanguineus Latreille. 640 ticks were too damaged for identification. All the R. sanguineus and the single D. variabilis were on dogs with a recent history of travel outside the UK. The overall prevalence of tick attachment was 30 % (range 28–32 %). The relatively high prevalence recorded is likely to have been inflated by the method of participant recruitment.ConclusionThe data presented provide a comprehensive spatial understanding of tick distribution and species abundance in the UK against which future changes can be compared. Relative prevalence maps show the highest rates in Scotland and south west England providing a valuable guide to tick-bite risk in the UK.

Morphological and molecular identification of the brown dog tick Rhipicephalus sanguineus and the camel tick Hyalomma dromedarii (Acari: Ixodidae) vectors of Rickettsioses in Egypt

“…The inspected animals were dogs that were collected from Cairo province and camels which were collected from Cairo, Giza, and Sinai provinces. These animals were examined for the presence of ticks in neck, chest area, and around the soft parts of their bodies such as the inner sides of the hind and forelegs, perineal area, inner surface of ears and udders [58]. …”

Contributions to the phylogeny of Ixodes (Pholeoixodes) canisuga, I. (Ph.) kaiseri, I. (Ph.) hexagonus and a simple pictorial key for the identification of their females

“…For instance, I. crenulatus was considered to occur in western, central and eastern Europe [7]. However, recent studies on ticks from carnivores confirmed its presence in Romania [8], but not in central and western Europe [9–11]. Furthermore, the validity of I. crenulatus was questioned because of its uninformative description that often results in it being misidentified as I. hexagonus [12].…”

“…Ixodes hexagonus and I. canisuga are common species on carnivores in the western Palaearctic [3, 11, 15–17]. While I. hexagonus can also be found in eastern Europe [8, 9, 14], I. canisuga occurs predominantly in western and central Europe [9, 18, 19].…”

Rhipicephalus sanguineus in an imported dog

“…UK veterinary practitioners are increasingly alerted to the threats from exotic ticks and tickborne pathogens, aided by high profile surveillance such as the Big Tick Project,1 promotional activities by ESCCAP UK and Ireland and Public Health England’s Tick Surveillance Scheme. Ongoing awareness is essential and valuable online resources exist for identifying male and female ticks (eg, the Bristol Tick ID website ).…”