Santos Marcos Antônio Bezerra, Macedo Lucia Oliveira de, Otranto Domenico, Ramos Carlos Alberto do Nascimento, Rêgo Ana Gabriela de Oliveira do, Giannelli Alessio, Alves Leucio Câmara, Carvalho Gílcia Aparecida de, Ramos Rafael Antonio Nascimento
Unidade Acadêmica de Garanhuns, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Garanhuns, Brazil.
Dipartimento di Medicina Veterinaria, Università degli Studi di Bari, Valenzano, Italy.
Acta Parasitol. 2018 Sep 25;63(3):605-608. doi: 10.1515/ap-2018-0069.
Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato (s.l.) is one of the most widespread ixodid ticks and is a competent vector of several vector-borne pathogens of veterinary and medical concern. For instance, this tick species transmits nematodes of the genus Cercopithifilaria and protozoa of the genus Hepatozoon to carnivores, including dogs. Here we investigated the occurrence of Cercopithifilaria spp. and Hepatozoon spp. in a population of ticks collected from naturally infested dogs living in rural areas of Northeastern Brazil. From August 2016 to June 2017, 758 tick specimens (mean ticks per month = 68.9 ± 71.4) were sampled from 75 dogs (mean ticks per dog = 10.11 ± 5.2) and dissected under a stereomicroscope in order to visualize Cercopithifilaria spp. larvae and Hepatozoon spp. oocysts and sporocysts. R. sanguineus s.l. was the only species collected, peaking in September (n = 273) and decreasing in February 2017 (n = 39). Different larval stages of Cercopithifilaria bainae were identified in 7 out of 758 (0.93%) ticks. In addition, 4 specimens (0.53%) were positive for oocysts and free sporocysts of Hepatozoon canis. The identity of both species of parasites was molecularly confirmed. These results account for the predominance of R. sanguineus (s.l.) in domestic dogs from rural locations of the study area, as well as for the presence C. bainae and H. canis in these tick populations.
广义血红扇头蜱（Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato，s.l.）是分布最广泛的硬蜱之一，是多种兽医和医学关注的媒介传播病原体的有效传播媒介。例如，这种蜱虫会将长尾猴丝状线虫属（Cercopithifilaria）的线虫和肝簇虫属（Hepatozoon）的原生动物传播给包括狗在内的食肉动物。在此，我们调查了从巴西东北部农村地区自然感染蜱虫的犬只身上采集的蜱虫种群中长尾猴丝状线虫属（Cercopithifilaria spp.）和肝簇虫属（Hepatozoon spp.）的感染情况。2016年8月至2017年6月，从75只犬只身上采集了758只蜱虫样本（每月平均蜱虫数 = 68.9 ± 71.4）（每只犬只平均蜱虫数 = 10.11 ± 5.2），并在体视显微镜下解剖，以观察长尾猴丝状线虫属（Cercopithifilaria spp.）幼虫以及肝簇虫属（Hepatozoon spp.）卵囊和子孢子囊。采集到的唯一蜱虫种类为广义血红扇头蜱（R. sanguineus s.l.），9月达到高峰（n = 273），2017年2月数量减少（n = 39）。在758只蜱虫中的7只（0.93%）中鉴定出了拜氏长尾猴丝状线虫（Cercopithifilaria bainae）的不同幼虫阶段。此外，4个样本（0.53%）的犬肝簇虫（Hepatozoon canis）卵囊和游离子孢子囊呈阳性。这两种寄生虫的种类均通过分子方法得以确认。这些结果说明了广义血红扇头蜱（R. sanguineus，s.l.）在研究区域农村家养犬只中的优势地位，以及这些蜱虫种群中拜氏长尾猴丝状线虫（C. bainae）和犬肝簇虫（H. canis）的存在情况。
