Ticks parasitizing dogs in northwestern Georgia.

Abstract

From January 1998 through September 1999, 324 dogs in three northwestern Georgia counties were examined for ticks. Six species of ticks were recovered. The three most commonly collected ticks were the American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis (Say) (310 male male, 352 female female; prevalence, 97%; mean intensity 2.1); the brown dog tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus (Latreille) (118 male male, 119 female female, 38 nymphs; prevalence, 22%; mean intensity, 3.8); and the lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum (L.) (8 male male 26 female female, 2 nymphs; prevalence, 5%; mean intensity, 2.4). Other ticks recovered were Ixodes cookei Packard (3 female female); the Gulf Coast tick, Amblyomma maculatum Koch (2 female female); and the blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis Say (1 female). Another adult female specimen of I scapularis was recovered from a cat, further reinforcing that this medically important tick is present in northwestern Georgia.