Qualitative and quantitative observations on the flea population dynamics of dogs and cats in several areas of Germany
Introduction
Flea infestations are a common cause of skin disorders and for consultations in small animal practice. The cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis, is one of the most frequent external parasites of companion animals worldwide (Rust and Dryden, 1997). C. felis is generally regarded the predominant species to find on dogs and cats (Halliwell, 1983, Harman et al., 1987, MacDonald, 1993, Visser et al., 2001, Muller et al., 2001, Akucewich et al., 2002). Other frequent flea species in the United States affecting dogs and cats are Ctenocephalides canis, Pulex irritans and Echidnophaga gallinacea (Scheidt, 1988). The sticktight flea of poultry, E. gallinacea, seems to be a frequent parasite of dogs and cats in the southeast of the USA (Kalkofen and Greenberg, 1974, Scott, 1980). The most prevalent flea species on dogs and cats in Germany are C. felis (on dogs: 71.1%, on cats: 83.5%), C. canis (on dogs: 3.4%, on cats: 0) and Archaeopsylla erinacei (on dogs: 14.6%, on cats: 5.1%) (Visser et al., 2001). In another study from Munich 5.5% of the examined dogs and 18.9% of the cats were infested with several flea species (Kalvelage and Münster, 1991). In UK C. felis and C. canis were selected from both dogs and cats, with a marked preponderance of the cat flea on both animal species (Chesney, 1995). A further survey from England examined the flea community on dogs and cats; from all fleas 96.4% (N = 133) were C. felis and 3.6% (N = 5) were C. canis, no other specimens of flea was observed (Clark, 1999). Those tendencies are in agreement with results obtained in Denmark (Kristensen et al., 1978), and in Finland (Saari and Nikander, 1991). C. canis, on the other hand, was in Ireland (Baker and Hatch, 1972) and New Zealand (Guzman, 1984) the most common identified flea species from dogs. In Mexico Cruz-Vazquez et al. (2001) confirmed an overall flea infestation of 30.3% and 30.1% for dogs and cats, respectively. Moreover 92.3% of the cats were infested with C. felis, 7.7% had both flea species; whereas on dogs, 81.1% were parasitized with only C. felis, 16.8% with C. canis, and 2% with C. felis and C. canis. The cat flea was the most prevalent flea species found other than C. canis; no other flea species were detected on the examined pets. It appeared that the life cycle of those external parasites continues throughout the year. The only species of fleas found on dogs in Chile were C. felis (41.8%), C. canis (39.4%), and P. irritans (18.8%); in Santiago C. felis was the predominant species on dogs (80.5%) (Alcaino et al., 2002). However, there are differences in the spectrum of various flea species related to geographical areas (rural versus urban; landscape: mountains versus plain and/or waterfront), seasonal occurrence, and the host susceptibility for those ectoparasites (Harman et al., 1987, Scheidt, 1988, Cruz-Vazquez et al., 2001).
This paper reports on epidemiological investigations in three areas, located in different parts of Germany, to determine the importance of fleas on dogs and cats and the fact that there are differences with respect to their prevalence, geographical distribution, and the influence of the seasons on the flea population development. Furthermore, collected flea specimens were identified after removal from the animal hosts. The spectrum of flea species sampled from dogs and cats in this country-wide study is reported.
Section snippets
Materials and methods
Between July 2003 and June 2004, 1922 dogs (630 from Karlsruhe, 647 from Nuernberg, 645 from Leipzig) and 1838 cats (573 from Karlsruhe, 642 from Nuernberg, 623 from Leipzig) of mixed breed, sex and age have been examined for fleas. Fig. 1 shows a map of the study sites. These dogs and cats were presented for veterinary consultation on one regular working day per month in each of 12 local small animal practices (four/town: two located in the city, two in the suburban region). Thus, half of the
Results
Fleas were recovered from 99 (5.13%) dogs and 263 (14.33%) cats. Cats were significantly more often flea-infested than dogs (p < 0.05). Seven (0.36%) dogs and 20 (1.09%) cats had a mixed flea infestation (six dogs/19 cats: C. felis and C. canis), one dog: C. felis, C. canis and Ceratophyllus gallinae, and one cat: C. felis and A. erinacei. Ceratophyllus garei, Paraceras melis and Megabothris sp. were found only in single canine cases of our series. One cat from Nuernberg showed a massive S.
Discussion
Distributional and geographical data regarding veterinary relevant flea species are abundant in epidemiological studies. However, seasonal studies regarding flea prevalences for a duration of months and years are epidemiologically interesting, and underreported in the literature. In the current study flea infestations on dogs and cats were observed throughout the entire year. The highest percentage of infestations were found in spring, summer, and autumn and were lower in the winter. The peaks
Acknowledgement
The authors would like to thank Merial S.A. for their cooperation and support throughout this project.
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