Parasites and Vectors (2017) 10 (301) - Ticks and associated pathogens ...

Maria Stefania Latrofa, Athanasios Angelou, Alessio Giannelli, Giada Annoscia, Silvia Ravagnan, Filipe Dantas-Torres, Gioia Capelli, Lenaig Halos, Frederic Beugnet, Elias Papadopoulos and Domenico Otranto (2017)
Ticks and associated pathogens in dogs from Greece
Parasites and Vectors 10 (301)
Abstract:
Background
With the aim to assess the occurrence of hard ticks and the pathogens they may carry in dogs from Greece, ixodid specimens (n = 757)were collected from 310 animals living in six provinces across the Greek peninsula. All ticks were morphologically identified, and genomic DNA was extracted from 344 (45.5%) representative specimens, according to their species, engorgement status and sampling area. The occurrence of Anaplasma spp., Ehrlichia spp., Hepatozoon spp., Rickettsia spp., Babesia spp., Theileria spp. and Cercopithifilaria spp. was assessed by conventional and quantitative real-time PCR.
Results
Overall, 150 dogs (48.4%) were infested by ticks, with Rhipicephalus sanguineus (sensu lato) being the most prevalent (70.1%), followed by Haemaphysalis parva (14.7%), Rhipicephalus turanicus (11.4%), and Haemaphysalis concinna (2.4%). Out of 344 specimens molecularly examined, 41 (11.1%) were positive for at least one microorganism (i.e. 5.5% for Cercopithifilaria bainae, 2.9% for Hepatozoon canis, 1.7% for Rickettsia hoogstraalii, 1.2% for Hepatozoon felis, 0.6% for Rickettsia massiliae, 0.6% for Theileria ovis, 0.3% for Anaplasma platys and 0.3% for Coxiella like-endosymbiont).
Conclusions
The results of this study show that different tick species parasitize dogs in Greece, carrying a range of microorganisms potentially pathogenic for dogs and humans. Consequently, control strategies against ticks are of great importance to prevent the risk of tick-borne diseases. The relationship between ticks infesting dogs and associated microorganisms is described according to collection site and dog lifestyle.
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Full text of article
Database assignments for author(s): Domenico Otranto, Filipe Dantas-Torres, Gioia Capelli, Alessio Giannelli

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
surveys/sampling/distribution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Ixodes ricinus		Greece
	Rhipicephalus sanguineus		Greece
	Rhipicephalus turanicus		Greece
	Haemaphysalis concinna		Greece
	Rhipicephalus bursa		Greece
	Hyalomma scupense		Greece
	Haemaphysalis parva		Greece