Dermacentor reticulatus (Fabricius, 1794) and Babesia canis (Piana et Galli-Valerio, 1895) as the parasites of companion animals (dogs and cats) in the Wrocław area, south-western Poland.
Tests performed in 2013 and 2014 revealed the occurrence of three tick species parasitizing pet cats and dogs in the Wrocław Agglomeration. In total, 1,455 tick specimens were removed from 931 hosts (760 dogs and 171 cats) in 18 veterinary clinics. The dominant tick species was Ixodes ricinus (n=1272; 87.4%), followed by I. hexagonus (n=137; 9.4%) and Dermacentor reticulatus (n=46; 3.2%). Females were the most often collected development stage among I. ricinus and D. reticulatus, and nymphs among I. hexagonus. Additionally, D. reticulatus ticks (n=337) were then collected from vegetation in the Wrocław area to detect Babesia canis; however, none was found positive. Only 9.0% of dog blood samples sent to VETLAB were positive for Babesia spp. Negative results for B. canis from ticks may result from the short period of the occurrence of D. reticulatus in the Wrocław area and therefore the vectorpathogen cycle may not have been fully established at the time of the study. Nevertheless, D. reticulatus is expanding its range, and the size of its population in the Wrocław Agglomeration is increasing. The presence of the pathogenic Babesia spp. combined with the occurrence of its main vector¸ D. reticulatus, suggests that the epizootiological situation in the area can change and may pose a new veterinary problem in the future.


BACKGROUND
Dermacentor reticulatus, Babesia canis, pets, Wrocław, Poland.
Nina
N
Król
Dorota
D
Kiewra
Elżbieta
E
Lonc
Bartłomiej
B
Janaczyk
Anna
A
Chodorowska-Skubiszewska
Michał
M
Dzięcioł
Mateusz
M
Gola
Robert
R
Gruszka
Ewa
E
Jackowska-Szlachcic
Magdalena
M
Jagiełło
Szczepan
S
Kawski
Zbigniew
Z
Łukaszewski
Piotr
P
Mizgalski
Tatiana
T
Narajowska
Justyna
J
Niedzielska
Marcin
M
Noczyński
Małgorzata
M
Rudkowska
Dariusz
D
Rzepka
Katarzyna
K
Samulska
Michał
M
Senze
Piotr
P
Sieczko
Arkadiusz
A
Silny
Anna
A
Staniewska
Janusz
J
Stańczyk
Wojciech
W
Stańczyk
Magdalena
M
Stasiak
Marek
M
Włodarczyk
Szymon
S
Zimniak
D000818:Animals; D001403:Babesia / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001404:Babesiosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D002415:Cats; D003870:Dermacentor; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D057805:Pets; D011044:Poland / Q000453:epidemiology; D013984:Tick Infestations / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*