Prevalence of tick infestation in dogs in and around Bhubaneswar

Aim: To study the prevalence of tick infestation in dogs in and around Bhubaneswar. Materials and Methods: A total of 610 dogs (360 stray dogs & 250 pet dogs) in and around Bhubaneswar belonging to either sex were examined for tick infestation during a period of one year (Aug 2011July 2012). Standard parasitological procedures were followed for collection, processing and identification of ticks. Result: 283 dogs (46.39%) were found positive for tick infestation with three different ixodid tick spp., viz. Rhipicephalus spp (39.51%), Boophilus spp.(4.92%) and Haemaphysalis spp. (1.97%) with many dogs having mixed infestations. Higher rate of incidence was recorded among stray dogs (58.33%) as compared to pet dogs (29.20%). Prevalence among dogs less than 1 year of age was higher (53.41%) than dogs above one year (45.21%). The overall percentage of incidence was higher (53.97%) among males than females (38.31%) in both stray and pet dogs. Influence of age and the variation due to sex on prevalence of tick infestations was found to be statistically significant (p<0.05). Highest percentage of prevalence (48.86%) was recorded during rainy season followed by summer season (40.39%) and lowest (32.24%) in winter. Influence of season on the prevalence of tick infestation was highly significant (p<0.01). Conclusion: Our study revealed the occurrence of three types of ixodid ticks in dogs with a prevalence of mixed infestation. Influence of age, sex and season on the prevalence of tick infestation was found to be significant.