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Diversity, Seasonality and Sites of Attachment of Adult Ixodid Ticks on Dogs in the Central Region of the Free State Province, South Africa

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Diversity, Seasonality and Sites of Attachment of Adult Ixodid Ticks on Dogs in the Central Region of the Free State Province, South Africa Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research, 68:281-290 (2001) Diversity, seasonality and sites of attachment of adult ixodid ticks on dogs in the central region of the Free State Province, South Africa P.A.H. JACOBS1, L.J. FOURIE1, D.J. KOK1 and I.G. HORAK2 ABSTRACT JACOBS, P.A.H., FOURIE, L.J., KOK, D.J. & HORAK, I.G. 2001. Diversity, seasonality and sites of attachment of adult ixodid ticks on dogs in the central region of the Free State Province, South Af­ rica. Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research, 68:281-290 Several surveys of ticks infesting dogs belonging to owners in resource-limited and more affluent com­ munities have been conducted in South Africa, but no such investigation has been carried out in the Free State Province of this country. The present study was initiated to meet this shortcoming. Ticks were collected from dogs at six localities in , and to the east of the city of Bloemfontein in the central region of the province. Three of these localities could be classed as resource-limited and two as af­ fluent, while the sixth locality was an animal shelter serving all members of the public. Adult ticks belonging to nine ixodid tick species were collected, of which Rhipicephalus sanguineus was the most numerous. Significantly more R. sanguineus was collected from dogs at resource-lim­ ited than at more affluent localities. The greatest proportions of these ticks attached to the backs and necks of the dogs, with the proportions being larger in long-haired than in short-haired dogs. Most R. sanguineus were collected during the warmer months particularly from January to April. The greatest proportions of Haemaphysalis leachi, the next most numerous species, were also col­ lected from the backs and the necks of the dogs. Most of these were present during the period Sep­ tember to November. Keywords: Central Free State, dogs, Haemaphysalis leachi, ixodid ticks, Rhipicephalus sanguineus, seasonality, sites of attachment, South Africa INTRODUCTION rak, Emslie & Spickett 2001). In these surveys three species were frequently collected, namely Haema­ Surveys of ixodid ticks on domestic dogs at several physalis leachi, Rhipicephalus sanguineus and Rhi­ localities in South Africa have shown that these ani­ picephalus simus. The seasonal occurrences of H. mals are infested by at least 18 species (Theiler 1962; lea chi and R. simus on dogs have both been deter­ Horak, Jacot Guillarmod, Moolman & De Vos 1987c; mined in two surveys in South Africa, one conducted Horak 1995; Bryson, Horak, Hbhn & Louw 2000; Ho- in the Eastern Cape Province and the other in north­ eastern KwaZulu-Natal (Horak et al. 1987c; 2001), while the seasonal occurrence of R. sanguineus has been determined on kennelled dogs in Pretoria North, 1 Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of the Free Gauteng Province (Horak 1982). However, little is State, Bloemfontein, 9301 South Africa known concerning the tick species that infest dogs in Present address: 26 Petrus Street, Hill Crest, Kimberley, 8301 the Free State Province of South Africa. In order to South Africa address this shortcoming the present study to deter­ 2 Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Vet­ mine the species diversity, prevalence, relative den­ erinary Science, University of Pretoria, Onderstepoort, 0110 sity, sites of attachment and seasonal occurrence of South Africa ticks infesting dogs was conducted at localities in, and Accepted for publication 31 October 2001-Editor to the east of the city of Bloemfontein in the central 281 Diversity, seasonality and sites of attachment of adult ixodid ticks on dogs in South Africa region of the province. Not only would this The SPCA at East End is situated close to the sub­ information have important implications for zoonoses urb of Heidedal, but cannot be grouped with any of and diseases of dogs transmitted by the ticks but also the other localities because it essentially is a hold­ for the planning of control strategies. ing facility for dogs. It should be noted, however, that it is surrounded by veld and that there are other ani­ An understanding of a particular tick's bionomics is mal species resident on the property besides dogs. essential for integrated pest management to be ef­ These include stray cats, horses and pigs. fective in that it serves to identify those parts of the life cycle that may be susceptible to control (Fourie Survey animals & Kok 1992). Ascertaining the preferred attachment sites of ticks also has important implications for con­ At each locality three long-haired (hair length> 4 cm) trol, especially when "spot on" acaricide treatment is and three short-haired dogs were sampled. With the considered. exception of those at the SPCA, the same dogs were sampled each month. This was easily accomplished I because the dogs selected belonged to individuals I MATERIALS AND METHODS at fixed addresses. They were not treated with an acaricide during the study. At the SPCA new arriv­ L Study area als were immediately treated with an acaricide and The various sampling localities were chosen so as were not sampled until ticks that were acquired on to include dogs belonging to owners of different socio­ the premises of the SPCA started attaching. Al­ economic backgrounds and demographic profiles re­ though different sets of dogs were examined at the SPCA, sampling was always done in the same set presentative of the population of the central Free I State region surrounding the provincial capital city of of kennels. Bloemfontein (29°07'S 26°12'E). Commencing dur­ All dogs are treated on arrival at the SPCA because ing February 1995, sampling took place in two sub­ many of them are heavily infested with ticks which urbs of Bloemfontein, namely Brandwag and Batho could lead to severe infestation of the premises and, and also at the kennels of the Society for the Pre­ in addition, it would have given, as far as this survey l'" vention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), situated in is concerned, an incorrect indication of the tick bur­ East End. From November 1995 onwards dogs at dens acquired by the dogs while residing at the three additional localities were sampled, namely SPCA. Heidedal (also a suburb of Bloemfontein), and at Botshabelo (29°14'S 26°42'E) and Thaba Nchu (29°12'S 26° 50'E) located 55 and 65 km east of Tick collection Bloemfontein respectively. Both Botshabelo and At each sampling occasion all visible ticks were re­ Thaba Nchu can be classified as resource-limited moved from the dogs by means of straight, blunt- urban and peri-urban settlements. Sampling was terminated at all localities during October 1996. When considering the level of urban development of an area in which a sampling locality was situated, factors such as tarred roads, veterinary clinics, shop­ ping centres, number of vacant stands and avail­ ability of transport were taken into account. Thus Bloemfontein can be regarded as being the most de­ veloped, followed by Thaba Nchu and then Botsha­ belo. In Botshabelo and Thaba Nchu there is evi­ dence of poor town planning and housing consists mainly of shacks and huts. There are very few brick homes. The inhabitants also have a very different culture to that of those of the city of Bloemfontein. Hunting is part of their lifestyle, and the use of spears, bows and arrows, traps, pitfalls and dogs for this purpose are not uncommon (De Wet 1986). Cattle are allowed to roam freely because there are no fences and a communal grazing system is practised. Stock­ 1 - Head 5 - Abdomen theft is commonplace and consequently the cattle are 2 - Ears 6 - Legs accompanied at all times while grazing by a mem­ 3 - Neck 7 - Feet ber of their owner's family (Jeppe 1980). Dogs usu­ 4 - Back 8 - Tail ally accompany this person and may thus spend a lot of time in the veld. FIG. 1 Body regions from which ticks were collected 282 PAH. JACOBS et al. tipped forceps. Those hidden in the dog's pelage Attachment sites and hair length were detected by thorough palpation and were then collected as above. The ticks were placed in labelled The proportion of ticks attached to various body re­ vials containing 70% ethanol and the information on gions was determined only at the SPCA and a dis­ the labels included date, locality, size of dog, dog or tinction was made between dogs with long and short kennel number and any other pertinent information. hair. Twelve dogs, six with long hair and six with short The vials were transported to the laboratory where hair, were examined fortnightly. These 12 dogs in­ the ticks were identified to species level with the aid cluded the six animals that were used to determine of a stereoscopic microscope and quantified. These the seasonal occurrence of ticks. Sampling took data were used to determine species diversity, rela­ place from April 1995 to DE;lcember 1995, thus includ­ tive density, prevalence and the seasonal occurrence ing summer and winter months. The body of the dog of the most abundant species. Relative density was was divided into eight regions, namely head, ears, calculated by dividing the total number of ticks of a neck, back, abdomen, legs, feet and tail (Fig. 1). The particular species by the total number of dogs sam­ ticks collected from each of the eight body regions pled (Kassai 1999). Prevalence was determined by were placed in separately labelled bottles for later dividing the number of dogs infested with a particu­ identification and counting. Although all stages of de­ lar species by the number of dogs sampled and ex­ velopment were collected, only adult ticks were used pressing the result as a percentage (Kassai 1999).
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