This Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation Has Been Downloaded from Explore Bristol Research
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from Explore Bristol Research, http://research-information.bristol.ac.uk Author: Cooper, Amber-Rose Title: Fleas infesting cats and dogs in Great Britain and the Isle of Man the drivers of infestation risk. General rights Access to the thesis is subject to the Creative Commons Attribution - NonCommercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International Public License. A copy of this may be found at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode This license sets out your rights and the restrictions that apply to your access to the thesis so it is important you read this before proceeding. Take down policy Some pages of this thesis may have been removed for copyright restrictions prior to having it been deposited in Explore Bristol Research. However, if you have discovered material within the thesis that you consider to be unlawful e.g. breaches of copyright (either yours or that of a third party) or any other law, including but not limited to those relating to patent, trademark, confidentiality, data protection, obscenity, defamation, libel, then please contact [email protected] and include the following information in your message: •Your contact details •Bibliographic details for the item, including a URL •An outline nature of the complaint Your claim will be investigated and, where appropriate, the item in question will be removed from public view as soon as possible. Fleas infesting cats and dogs in Great Britain and the Isle of Man: the drivers of infestation risk AMBER-ROSE COOPER A dissertation submitted to the University of Bristol in accordance with the requirements of the degree of MSc in the Faculty of Life Sciences, School of Biological Sciences. August 2020 Word Count: 12,145 1 Abstract Fleas are the most abundant and clinically important ectoparasite infesting domestic cats and dogs. In addition to the irritation, blood loss and transmission of infectious disease associated with biting, blood-feeding may trigger a severe allergic dermatitis in sensitised hosts. Here, the spatial pattern of flea infestation risk across Great Britain is considered using data collected from a national survey undertaken in 2018, with particular attention given to the effects of insecticide use on infestation risk. The data show a statistically significant geographical pattern, with flea infestation risk declining from south to north. None of the factors: pet breed, sex, neutered status, or outdoor access, showed any relationship with the underlying geographic distribution of flea infestation which therefore is most likely to be associated with climatic factors. However, overall, only 23.6% of the cats and 35% of the dogs inspected had been treated with identifiable flea products that were still ‘in date’ at the point of inspection. The percentage of owners treating their pet broadly followed that of infestation risk. The insecticide Fipronil, a common active in a wide range of flea treatments, was the commonest insecticide class applied to cats. However, 62% of cats and 45% of dogs that had been treated with a fipronil-based product that was in-date at the point of inspection still had fleas. Persistent flea infestation is likely to be due to a range of factors, including compliance and application failure, but the data presented here provide strong inferential evidence for a lack of efficacy of fipronil-based products indicating a need to monitor emerging resistance to on-host flea treatments. Given the ubiquity of flea infestation, this finding and the relatively low-level treatment compliance, highlight a clear need for greater owner education about the importance of flea management and the efficacy of different product types. 2 Acknowledgments I would like to thank everyone who has helped in the production of this thesis. Firstly, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to Professor Richard Wall for his willingness to give invaluable guidance, time and encouragement throughout this research and the writing of this thesis. Similarly, I would like to thank Emily Nixon for her advice and support. I would like to extend my thanks to the University of Bristol for the opportunities and facilities that have been available to me. I would also like to thank my funders, MSD Animal Health. I would like to give special thanks to my parents, Tracy Cooper and Mark Cooper, and my siblings, Miya, Joe and Charlie Cooper, for their love and generosity throughout my studies. Finally, I would like to thank my friends, Madeleine Noll, Katherine Bryer, Charles Elsesser, Bryony Chellew, Clara Johns and Milo Jackson-Brown, for always keeping me smiling along the way. 3 Author’s Declaration I declare that the work in this dissertation was carried out in accordance with the Regulations of the University of Bristol. The work is original except where indicated by special reference in the text and no part of the dissertation has been submitted for any other degree. The work described in Chapter 2 has been published: ‘Fleas infesting cats and dogs in Great Britain: spatial distribution of infestation risk and its relation to treatment’ by Cooper A-R., Nixon, E., Rose Vineer, H., Abdullah, S, Newbury, H and Wall, R. In this work: Swaid Abdullah collected the original questionnaire data and identified the fleas, Hannah Rose Vineer and Emily Nixon undertook spatial analysis (their contributions are not included in this thesis), Hannah Newbury provided funding via MSD Animal Health and Richard Wall supervised the study. Any views expressed in the dissertation are those of the author and in no way represent those of the University of Bristol. The dissertation has not been presented to any other University for examination either in the United Kingdom or overseas. SIGNED…………Amber-Rose Cooper……………… DATED……………14/08/2020………………… 4 Table of Contents CHAPTER ONE: Fleas: Their biology and veterinary importance 1.0 Introduction............................................................................................................................... 9 1.1 Flea Classification..................................................................................................................... 9 1.2 The Flea Life-Cycle.................................................................................................................. 10 1.2.1 Eggs............................................................................................................................................ 10 1.2.2 Larvae......................................................................................................................................... 11 1.2.3 Pupae.......................................................................................................................................... 12 1.2.4 Adults.......................................................................................................................................... 13 1.3 Seasonality of Infestation........................................................................................................ 14 1.4 Urban versus Rural Areas........................................................................................................ 15 1.5 Host-Dependent Factors......................................................................................................... 16 1.6 Flea prevalence and the distribution of infestation in the UK.......................................... 17 1.7 Flea Control............................................................................................................................... 18 1.7.1 Veterinary Importance............................................................................................................. 18 1.7.2 Persistence of the flea population.......................................................................................... 19 1.7.3 Anti-flea products.................................................................................................................... 20 1.7.4 Resistance to anti-flea products 21 1.8 Aims............................................................................................................................................ 21 CHAPTER TWO: Fleas infesting cats and dogs in Great Britain: spatial distribution and infestation risk in relation to treatment 2.1 Introduction............................................................................................................................... 24 2.2 Methods...................................................................................................................................... 25 2.2.1 The distribution of flea infestation........................................................................................ 25 2.2.2 Effects of sex, neutered status, age and breed of pet of flea infestation......................... 26 2.2.3 Effects of pet activity on flea infestation.............................................................................. 26 2.2.4 Effects of treatment on flea infestation................................................................................ 26 5 2.3 Results......................................................................................................................................... 27 2.3.1 Spatial distribution of flea infestation.................................................................................... 27 2.3.2 The effect of sex and neutered status on flea infestation................................................... 29