Investigation of tick infestation characteristics in dogs, in Tekirdag province, Thrace, Turkey

The estimated number of dogs over the world is around 900 million, and at least 200 million are thought to be living on the street. In Turkey, it is known that both owned and stray dog population is very high. Although dogs live close with people, they can often also wander in the natural areas where people do not normally enter. It is reported that dogs, which could be frequently exposed to many parasitic diseases, may be able to source humans for at least some of them. It is emphasized that there is a need for detailed studies about dogs in order to reveal the risk in this point. In this study, in 2017, 1605 dogs, owned or stray dogs in Tekirdag province, were examined. A total of 1033 ticks were found in 137 of the dogs (8.54%). Of the dogs 115 (83.94%), 868 (84.03%) Rhipicephalus sanguineus s.l. (Latreille, 1806), 13 (1.26%) of 5 (3.68%) of Rhipicephalus spp. nimf, from 8 (% 5,84) 11 (% 1,07) Ixodes ricinus (Linnaeus, 1758), 7 (% 5,11) of 8 (0.77%) Haemaphysalis parva (Neumann, 1897), 4 (%) Ixodesacuminatus Neumann, 1901, 1 (0.73%) of 117 (11.33%) Ixodes caiseri Arthur, 1957 adults and 12 (1.16%) I kaiseri nymph were collected. According to the literature search, I. kaiseri, I. accuminatus and Ha.parva are reported first time in Turkey in dogs, and Ha. Parva is first time reported in dogs in the world. Furthermore, I. kaiseri is reported for the first time in Thrace, and it was the second notification for Turkey which was held in Ankara at first from the fox as nymphs. Keywords: Tekirdag, dog, tick, infestation, season