Ticks infestations and parasitism in resident and non-resident dogs of Plateau State, Nigeria

Abstract

The aimed of the study was to determine tick infestations and parasitism in resident and non-resident dogs of Kanke Local Government Area, Plateau State, Nigeria and was carried out from November 2023 to October 2024. A total of five hundred (500) dogs were examined for ticks, out of which 421(79.0%) were infested with ticks. Three species of ticks were discovered infesting dogs in the study area. These are Boophilus decoloratus, Rhipicephalus sanguineus and Amblyomma variegatum (Ixodid or hard ticks). The dogs had multiple infestations with no single presence of tick found. Rhipicephalus sanguineus had the highest prevalence rates of 901(31.0%) and 2009(69.0%) in resident and non-resident dogs respectively. Boophilus decoloratus recorded an infection rate of 455(22.1%) in resident dogs and 1603(77.9%) in non-resident dogs. 99(43.2%) and 130(56.8%) prevalence rates for Amblyomma variegatum were recorded in resident and non-resident dogs respectively. The ticks recorded were mostly found on the facial region, followed by the trunk, interdigital cleft, anal region and lastly the abdominal region. Adult dogs were heavily infested with all the species of ticks encountered when compared with puppies. (P<0.05). This study revealed that Babesia canis was the only tick-borne parasite present in the examined blood samples of the animals. This haemoparasite was more prevalent in non-resident dogs. Adult dogs were mostly infected with Babesia canis. The examined animals showed an association of tick infestations and babesiosis. The present study, therefore revealed multiple tick infestations with monoparasitism in the dogs. Both resident and non-resident dogs showed a decrease in PVC levels due to tick infestations. Packed cell volume indicated significant difference in the studied dogs (P<0.05), thus aneamic, emaciated and loss economic and meat value to the farmers and consumers respectively.