Ecology of Terrestrial and Aquatics Systems Laboratory (EcoSTAq), Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Badji Mokhtar University-Annaba, Annaba, BP 12, 23200, Algeria.
Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca, Calea Mănăștur 3-5, Cluj-Napoca, 400372, Romania.
Parasit Vectors. 2021 Jan 5;14(1):5. doi: 10.1186/s13071-020-04510-7.
Ticks are hematophagous arthropods which normally attach to the surface of the host's skin. Their aberrant presence in the subcutaneous tissue of a few carnivores, predominantly foxes, has been reported. However, there have been no reports of this phenomenon in other carnivores such as mustelids or golden jackals. Our aim was to investigate the host spectrum for this aberrant localization of ticks.
Between 2015 and 2020, a total of 198 carcasses of 12 species of carnivore were examined by parasitological necropsy. When a subcutaneous tick was found, the nodule was removed, carefully dissected, and stored in ethanol. The morphological identification of the subcutaneous tick was carried out to species level.
A single subcutaneous tick was found in one carcass, that of a golden jackal (Canis aureus). The tick was identified as a female Ixodes ricinus. All the other carcasses were negative for the presence of subcutaneous ticks.
To our knowledge, this is the first report of a subcutaneous tick in a golden jackal. This finding broadens the host spectrum of subcutaneous ticks, and reinforces the idea that, among carnivores, this phenomenon only occurs in canids.
蜱是吸血节肢动物，通常附着在宿主皮肤表面。它们在少数食肉动物（主要是狐狸）的皮下组织中异常存在已有报道。然而，在其他食肉动物（如鼬科或金豺）中尚未有这种现象的报告。我们的目的是调查这种蜱异常定位的宿主范围。
2015 年至 2020 年间，通过寄生虫学剖检检查了 198 具 12 种食肉动物的尸体。当发现皮下蜱时，将结节取出，小心解剖，并储存在乙醇中。对皮下蜱的形态进行了物种水平的鉴定。
在一具金豺（Canis aureus）尸体中发现了一只皮下蜱。蜱被鉴定为雌性的硬蜱（Ixodes ricinus）。所有其他尸体均未发现皮下蜱的存在。
据我们所知，这是首例在金豺中发现皮下蜱的报告。这一发现拓宽了皮下蜱的宿主范围，并进一步证实了这种现象仅发生在犬科动物中的观点。
