Abstract
BackgroundThe status of flea infestation in dogs is an important public health concern because of their cosmopolitan distribution worldwide and the flea-borne disease transmission. In the present study, we investigated the flea infestation among 116 outdoor dogs (57 females and 59 males) in 8 rural areas of Jeonnam Province, Republic of Korea.ResultsThirty-three dogs (28.4%) were infested with fleas, and all dogs were infested with Ctenocephalides canis. One dog from Hampyeong was co-infested with Ctenocephalides felis orientis, but no dogs were infested with Ctenocephalides felis felis. The reasons behind this almost exclusive distribution of flea species in dogs from Korea are currently unknown and will require further epidemiological and biological investigations. However, since all dogs investigated in the study were raised in an outdoor environment, the development of flea eggs, larvae and pupae in climatic conditions in Korea might have negatively affected the survival of other flea species. Due to the shoes-off culture and floor-heating system of Korean houses, indoor dogs are rarely infested with fleas in Korea.ConclusionTo our knowledge, this is the first report on the distribution survey of flea species infesting dogs in Korea and the first report of C. orientis infesting a dog in Korea.
Highlights
The status of flea infestation in dogs is an important public health concern because of their cosmopolitan distribution worldwide and the flea-borne disease transmission
To our knowledge, this is the first report on the distribution survey of flea species infesting dogs in
This study clearly shows that a considerably high number of outdoor dogs in Korea is exposed to flea infestation, and almost all flea species from dogs are C. canis
Summary
The status of flea infestation in dogs is an important public health concern because of their cosmopolitan distribution worldwide and the flea-borne disease transmission. The dominant flea species infesting dogs in the USA, Mexico and western Europe is Ctenocephalides felis felis while in some countries in central and eastern Europe, as well as Ireland and Argentina the flea species is Ctenocephalides canis [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Ctenocephalides felis orientis), on the other hand, is prevalent among dogs in Asian countries such as India, Malaysia and Thailand [7,8,9,10]. Unlike in other countries, flea infestation among pet dogs and cats are rarely considered a serious issue among small animal practitioners in. Korea and no clinical cases of flea infestation have been reported from client-owned pet dogs or cats.
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