İnfestation with tick lice and flea in sheltered stray dog in Bursa province

Within the scope of the study, 350 stray dogs brought to the animal shelters of three different municipalities in Bursa were examined for fleas, ticks and lice between April 2012 and March 2013. Infestation rates of fleas, ticks and lice in dogs were determined and the collected data were evaluated according to variables such as age, gender, general condition, hair length, season of sampling and location of shelter. Of the examined dogs, 59.7% were positive for ectoparasite infestations. Seven different species were found in the collected ectoparasites. Three of them were fleas (Ctenocephalides canis, Ctenocephalides felis, Pulex irritans), three were ticks (Rhipicephalus sanguineus, Rhipicephalus turanicus, Haemaphysalis erinacei) and one was lice (Trichodectes canis). With this study, Hae. ernacei was detected in dogs for the first time in Turkey. Flea, tick and lice infestation rates were 51.1%, 12% and 4.9%, respectively. The most common species were C. canis (43.4%), C. felis (23.4%) and R. sanguineus (9.7%). While gender and hair length had no effect on the prevalence of tick, flea and lice species, T. canis and C. canis infestation rates were found to be higher in dogs younger than one year of age compared to dogs older than one year. It was determined that the tick infestation rate in obese animals was higher than in lean and normal animals. Total tick and T. canis infestation were found higher in Nilüfer shelter than in other shelters (Osmangazi and Yıldırım). Although flea infestation in dogs was observed in all seasons, the highest rate was found in autumn with 77.8%. Tick infestations were highest in spring (24%) and summer (21.4%). Only one sample of R. sanguineus was collected from one animal in winter, and no tick infestation was observed in autumn. T. canis was detected in all seasons, and the prevalence varied between 1.2% and 8.4% according to the seasons. On the other hand, it was observed that "low-intensity infestations" (1-5 fleas/animal; 1-3 ticks/animal) related to fleas and ticks detected in stray dogs were more dominant (fleas: 76.5%; ticks: 59.5%). As a result, with this research, data on lice, flea and tick infestations were obtained for the first time in stray dogs in Bursa region. In this context, it has been determined that stray dogs are infested with different types of ectoparasites throughout the year, especially flea and tick infestations are very common. It is thought that it would be beneficial to consider the data obtained in this study in order to make the parasitic control, which is among the veterinary medicine services given to the stray dogs collected in the shelters of the district municipalities, more effective.