The prevalence of <i>Rickettsia felis</i> DNA in fleas collected from cats and dogs in the UK

In a large-scale survey in the UK, recruited veterinary practices were asked to inspect client-ownedcats and dogs, selected at random between April and June 2018, following a standardised flea inspection protocol. A total of 326 veterinary practices participated and 812 cats and 662 dogs were examined during the 3-month period. Fleas were collected, identified to species level and fleas of the same species collected from a single animal were pooled together and treated as a single sample. A total of 470 pooled flea samples were screened by PCR and DNA sequence analysis for a subset of Rickettsia species including R. felis and R. typhi. On analysis, 27 (5.7%) of the pooled flea samples were positive for R. felis DNA; these were predominantly in the cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis, but one dog flea, Ctenocephalides canis was also positive for this pathogen

Ticks infesting domestic dogs in the UK:a large-scale surveillance programme

Background: Recent changes in the distribution of tick vectors and the incidence of tick-borne disease, driven variously by factors such as climate change, habitat modification, increasing host abundance and the increased movement of people and animals, highlight the importance of ongoing, active surveillance. This paper documents the results of a large-scale survey of tick abundance on dogs presented to veterinary practices in the UK, using a participatory approach that allows relatively cost- and time-effective extensive data collection. Methods: Over a period of 16 weeks (April-July 2015), 1094 veterinary practices were recruited to monitor tick attachment to dogs and provided with a tick collection and submission protocol. Recruitment was encouraged through a national publicity and communication initiative. Participating practices were asked to select five dogs at random each week and undertake a thorough, standardized examination of each dog for ticks. The clinical history and any ticks were then sent to the investigators for identification. Results: A total of 12,000 and 96 dogs were examined and 6555 tick samples from infested dogs were received. Ixodes ricinus (Linnaeus) was identified on 5265 dogs (89 %), Ixodes hexagonus Leach on 577 (9.8 %) and Ixodes canisuga Johnston on 46 (0.8 %). Ten dogs had Dermacentor reticulatus (Fabricius), one had Dermacentor variabilis (Say), three had Haemaphysalis punctata Canesteini & Fanzago and 13 had Rhipicephalus sanguineus Latreille. 640 ticks were too damaged for identification. All the R. sanguineus and the single D. variabilis were on dogs with a recent history of travel outside the UK. The overall prevalence of tick attachment was 30 % (range 28-32 %). The relatively high prevalence recorded is likely to have been inflated by the method of participant recruitment. Conclusion: The data presented provide a comprehensive spatial understanding of tick distribution and species abundance in the UK against which future changes can be compared. Relative prevalence maps show the highest rates in Scotland and south west England providing a valuable guide to tick-bite risk in the UK

Pathological Studies on Lung Abscesses in Sheep Slaughtered in Kashmir Valley, India

The present study was conducted in Kashmir valley of India to investigate the prevalence and pathology of lung abscesses in sheep, slaughtered in different organized abattoirs. These abattoirs were visited between January 2010 to February 2011 and a total of 1455 lungs were examined. Out of these 18.9% lungs had abscesses, with higher incidence in young sheep (60%) than in adult ones (40%). Grossly, abscesses were observed in one or more lung lobes and were either single or multiple. In majority of lungs, abscess sizes varied from pea to walnut size, but in some cases large abscesses were also observed. Histopathologically, abscesses were characterized by a central caseo-necrotic core surrounded by pyogenic membrane with infiltration of polymorphonuclear cells and few mononuclear cells and macrophages. Most of the abscesses revealed presence of Gram positive bacterial infection where as chronic abscesses indicated both Gram positive and Gram negative bacterial infection. Fibrous tissue proliferation around the pyogenic membrane of the chronic abscesses was noticed. Disruption and disorientation of elastin fibres was also a prominent feature. Increased concentration of both acid and neutral mucopolysaccharides was observed in and around the lesion. Purulent material of abscesses revealed marked metachromasia. The study revealed that lung abscesses in domestic sheep are highly prevalent in Kashmir valley. Thus, there is a need to introduce appropriate control measures of diseases affecting the lungs to minimize the incidence of lung affections and hence reduce the ensuing economic losses

Prevalence of ticks and tick-borne pathogens:<i>Babesia </i>and <i>Borrelia </i>species in ticks infesting cats of Great Britain

In a study of tick and tick-borne pathogen prevalence, between May and October 2016, 278 veterinary practices in Great Britain examined 1855 cats. Six-hundred and one cats were found to have attached ticks. The most frequently recorded tick species was Ixodes ricinus (57.1%), followed by Ixodes hexagonus (41.4%) and Ixodes trianguliceps (1.5%). Male cats, 4–6 years of age living in rural areas were most likely to be carrying a tick; hair length and tick treatment history had no significant association with attachment. For cats that were parasitized by ticks in large urban areas, I. hexagonus was the most frequent species recorded. Molecular analysis was possible for 541 individual tick samples, others were too damaged for analysis; Babesia spp., and Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato were identified in 1.1% (n\ua0=\ua06) and 1.8% (n\ua0=\ua010) of these, respectively. Babesia spp. included Babesia vulpes sp. nov./Babesia microti-like (n\ua0=\ua04) in I. hexagonus and Babesia venatorum (n\ua0=\ua02) in I. ricinus. Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. species included Borrelia garinii (n\ua0=\ua06) and Borrelia afzelii (n\ua0=\ua04). The majority of B. burgorferi s.l. cases were found in I. ricinus, with B. afzelii in one I. hexagonus nymph. No Borrelia or Babesia spp. were present in I. trianguliceps. To determine a true prevalence for ticks on cats, practices that only submitted questionnaires from cats with ticks and practices that submitted fewer than 5 returns per week were removed; amongst those considered to have adhered strictly to the collection protocol, feline tick prevalence amongst cats that had access to the outdoors was 6.6%. These results show that ticks can be found on cats throughout Great Britain, which harbour a range of species of Babesia and B. burgdorferi s.l. and that cats, particularly in green spaces within urban areas, may form an important host for I. hexagonus, a known vector of pathogens

<i>Anaplasma phagocytophilum</i>, <i>Bartonella</i> spp., haemoplasma species and <i>Hepatozoon</i> spp. in ticks infesting cats:A large-scale survey

Background: Ticks derived from cats have rarely been evaluated for the presence of pathogens. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Bartonella spp., haemoplasma species and Hepatozoon spp. in ticks collected from cats in the UK. Methods: Five hundred and forty DNA samples extracted from 540 ticks collected from cats presenting to veterinarians in UK practices were used. Samples underwent a conventional generic PCR assay for detection of Hepatozoon spp. and real-time quantitative PCR assays for detection of Anaplasma phagocytophilum and three feline haemoplasma species and a generic qPCR for detection of Bartonella spp. Feline 28S rDNA served as an endogenous internal PCR control and was assessed within the haemoplasma qPCR assays. Samples positive on the conventional and quantitative generic PCRs were submitted for DNA sequencing for species identification. Results: Feline 28S rDNA was amplified from 475 of the 540 (88.0%) ticks. No evidence of PCR inhibition was found using an internal amplification control. Of 540 ticks, 19 (3.5%) contained DNA from one of the tick-borne pathogens evaluated. Pathogens detected were: A. phagocytophilum (n = 5; 0.9%), Bartonella spp. (n = 7; 1.3%) [including Bartonella henselae (n = 3; 0.6%) and Bartonella clarridgeiae (n = 1; 0.2%)], haemoplasma species (n = 5; 0.9%), "Candidatus Mycoplasma haemominutum" (n = 3; 0.6%), Mycoplasma haemofelis (n = 1; 0.2%), "Candidatus Mycoplasma turicensis" (n = 1; 0.2%), Hepatozoon spp. (n = 2; 0.4%), Hepatozoon felis (n = 1; 0.2%) and Hepatozoon silvestris (n = 1; 0.2%). Conclusion: These data provide important information on the prevalence of tick-borne pathogens in ticks infesting cats, with the identification of haemoplasma species, A. phagocytophilum, H. felis and Bartonella spp. (including B. henselae and B. clarridgeiae). This study also documents the first report of H. silvestris in ticks collected from domestic cats

Contributions to the phylogeny of Ixodes (Pholeoixodes) canisuga, I. (Ph.) kaiseri, I. (Ph.) hexagonus and a simple pictorial key for the identification of their females

Background: In Europe, hard ticks of the subgenus Pholeoixodes (Ixodidae: Ixodes) are usually associated with burrow-dwelling mammals and terrestrial birds. Reports of Pholeoixodes spp. from carnivores are frequently contradictory, and their identification is not based on key diagnostic characters. Therefore, the aims of the present study were to identify ticks collected from dogs, foxes and badgers in several European countries, and to reassess their systematic status with molecular analyses using two mitochondrial markers. Results: Between 2003 and 2017, 144 Pholeoixodes spp. ticks were collected in nine European countries. From accurate descriptions and comparison with type-materials, a simple illustrated identification key was compiled for adult females, by focusing on the shape of the anterior surface of basis capituli. Based on this key, 71 female ticks were identified as I. canisuga, 21 as I. kaiseri and 21 as I. hexagonus. DNA was extracted from these 113 female ticks, and from further 31 specimens. Fragments of two mitochondrial genes, cox1 (cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1) and 16S rRNA, were amplified and sequenced. Ixodes kaiseri had nine unique cox1 haplotypes, which showed 99.2-100% sequence identity, whereas I. canisuga and I. hexagonus had eleven and five cox1 haplotypes, respectively, with 99.5-100% sequence identity. The distribution of cox1 haplotypes reflected a geographical pattern. Pholeoixodes spp. ticks had fewer 16S rRNA haplotypes, with a lower degree of intraspecific divergence (99.5-100% sequence identity) and no geographical clustering. Phylogenetic analyses were in agreement with morphology: I. kaiseri and I. hexagonus (with the similar shape of the anterior surface of basis capituli) were genetically more closely related to each other than to I. canisuga. Phylogenetic analyses also showed that the subgenus Eschatocephalus (bat ticks) clustered within the subgenus Pholeoixodes. Conclusions: A simple, illustrated identification key is provided for female Pholeoixodes ticks of carnivores (including I. hexagonus and I. rugicollis) to prevent future misidentification of these species. It is also shown that I. kaiseri is more widespread in Europe than previously thought. Phylogenetic analyses suggest that the subgenus Pholeoixodes is not monophyletic: either the subgenus Eschatocephalus should be included in Pholeoixodes, or the latter subgenus should be divided, which is a task for future studies

Spectrophotometric analysis of lipid used to examine the phenology of the tick <i>Ixodes ricinus</i>

Ticks store lipid as an energy souce, which depletes progressively between blood meals. The amount of lipid and rate of lipid depletion can be used as a good indicator of the feeding history and assist in explaining the phenology of tick populations. However, existing gravimetric approaches to lipid measurement are relatively imprecise. To improve our ability to accurately measure lipid accumulation and metabolism in individual ticks, a microquantity colorimetric sulfophosphovanillan method of lipid estimation was standardised and used to explore the seasonal variations in the lipid content of I. ricinus nymphs.Lipid values for field-derived questing ticks, collected by blanket dragging, varied between 5-45 μg and clear patterns of lipid depletion were demonstrated under controlled laboratory conditions. For field populations collected monthly over two years, the results indicate that two different cohorts of nymphs enter the questing tick population in autumn and spring, with very few nymphs joining the population in summer.The data illustrate the seasonal change in lipid content of nymphal ticks, reflecting their feeding history and highlight the utility of the spectrophotometric technique for analysis of lipid in ticks in helping to improve our understanding of seasonal activity patterns

Bacillus cereus food poisoning: international and Indian perspective

Food borne illnesses result from eating food or drinking beverages that are contaminated with chemical matter, heavy metals, parasites, fungi, viruses and Bacteria. Bacillus cereus is one of the food-borne disease causing Bacteria. Species of Bacillus and related genera have long been troublesome to food producers on account of their resistant endospores. Their spores may be present on various types of raw and cooked foods, and their ability to survive high cooking temperatures requires that cooked foods be served hot or cooled rapidly to prevent the growth of this bacteria. Bacillus cereus is well known as a cause of food poisoning, and much more is now known about the toxins produced by various strains of this species, so that its significance in such episodes are clearer. However, it is still unclear why such cases are so rarely reported worldwide

Comparative efficacy of two synthetic pyrethroids against Rhipicephalus (boophilus) microplus

A study was conducted to estimate the efficacy of market available formulations of two synthetic pyrethroids namely cypermethrin and fenvalerate. Fully engorged females of Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus were collected from different locations of North India. Larval Packet Test (LPT) was conducted on 14 to 21 days old larvae of these tick samples. Ticks reared in the Department of Veterinary Parasitology, GB Pant University of Agriculture & Technology were used as reference susceptible population. Different dilutions of cypermethrin and fenvalerate were prepared in 2:1 solution of trichloroethylene and olive oil as per FAO recommendation. The same solution was used as control. LPT bioassay revealed tick population of Dehradun to be least susceptible, with highest LC values against both cypermethrin (0.03459% Active Ingredient (AI)) and fenvalerate (0.89802% AI). LC value of cypermethrin was lowest for Bheemtal (0.0006% AI) and for fenvalerate it was for Pantnagar (0.01817% AI). Four of the tick populations were resistant to cypermethrin (Resistance Factor (RF) > 5) and only tick populations of Dehradun was resistant to fenvalerate. The above study indicates that there is a rise in resistance against the two commonly used synthetic pyrethroids in tick populations of these regions and there is a variation in efficacies of the two acaricides. Thus to prevent the emergence of resistant tick populations in this region, acaricides must be used judiciously and there should be frequent monitoring of efficacy of these acaricides