Monthly infestation characteristics of ticks in dogs in Turkish Thrace: Possible urbanization trends in some sylvatic tick species

Abstract

In recent decades, significant increases and/or drastic changes have been recorded in the prevalence, intensity, and distribution of ticks worldwide, which are known to be fueled by the climate change. However, there are many intertwined drivers affecting ticks, the degree of their influence of which is contingent and difficult to determine, and it is known that elucidating the factors is crucial to understand the current tick ecology and predicting the future trend. This study was carried out to determine monthly dynamics of tick infestation in owned and stray dogs under the influence of hot dry summer sub-type of the Mediterranean climate in Thrace region, European part of Turkey. During the survey performed in 2017 on monthly basis, 1605 different dogs from ten different localities in Thrace were examined for ticks. Infestation was determined in 137 (8.54%) dogs. The highest monthly prevalence (34.03%) was recorded in May. In total, 1033 ticks (1008 adults, 25 nymphs) belonging to the following species have been identified with different monthly and total prevalence and intensity: Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato, Haemaphysalis parva, Ixodes ricinus, Ixodes acuminatus, and Ixodes kaiseri. The results indicated that degradation and destruction of natural habitats under the influence of human effect seem likely to cause/facilitate/accelerate the entering some wild animal species, and therefore their ticks, to the urbanized environments via afforested woodlands and gardens in the periurbans, and dogs in such areas seem to play a supportive role in the maintenance of some tick species, including those with primarily sylvatic cycle, such as I. acuminatus and I. kaiseri.