Abstract

PATERNINA, LUIS E; DIAZ-OLMOS, YIRYS; PATERNINA-GOMEZ, MARGARET  and  BEJARANO, EDUAR E. Canis familiaris, a New Host of Ornithodoros (A.) puertoricensis Fox, 1947 (Acari: Ixodida) in Colombia. Acta biol.Colomb. [online]. 2009, vol.14, n.1, pp.154-160. ISSN 0120-548X.

Ticks are very important from the biomedical point of view, by their hematophagic activity and their role in the transmission of pathogenic microorganisms to man and animals. The main goal of this work was to establish the tick species parasiting dogs in three rural localities of the Colombian Caribbean. From August to December 2006, an active search of ticks on dogs was carried out in the localities of El Campín, Sabanas del Potrero and Escobar Arriba, department of Sucre. The collected ticks were preserved into eppendorf tubes with 70% ethanol, and identified using standard morphological keys for each family. Argasid species were determined by measuring external morphological characters. Of 134 examined dogs in the three localities, 50 were found infested by ticks, representing a infestation rate of 37,3%. A total of 420 ticks were collected from dogs and identified as Rhipicephalus sanguineus, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus, and Amblyomma ovale of the Ixodidae family, and Ornithodoros puertoricensis of the Argasidae family. R. sanguineus was the predominant species (92,1%) in the stages of larva, nymph and adult, following by O. puertoricensis larvae recorded in low numbers in the three regions sampled. The tick O. puertoricensis is recorded for the first time as ectoparasite of domestic dogs in America. Additionally, the presence of this tick species is confirmed in Colombia.

Keywords : Ticks, dogs; Ornithodoros puertoricensis; Ixodida; Colombia.

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