Abstract
Purpose
Larval stages of trombiculid mites infest a wide variety of wild and domestic animals. The most common clinical signs related with the presence of these parasites are alopecia, crusts, erythema, excoriation, erosion, papules, pustules and vesicles. Most of trombiculid infestations may not be perceived by the clinician due to their small size. Although Ericotrombidium ibericense has been recorded on cats, it has not been found on dogs.
Methods
In August 2019, three domestic dogs presenting pruritic dermatological lesions in the ventral area of the body and interdigital spaces were presented at a veterinary clinic in Santarém, central Portugal. Trombiculid mites were extracted from the skin and preserved in 70% ethanol. Specimens were prepared in slides with Hoyer’s medium and observed with optical microscopy.
Results
After morphological examination of the specimens, mites were identified as E. ibericense (Acariformes: Trombiculidae).
Conclusions
Most of the trombiculids recorded in European clinical practice are generally identified as Neotrombicula autumnalis by default, since, in most cases, mites are not examined morphologically. This is the first record of E. ibericense in domestic dogs. More studies are needed to evaluate the distribution of these mites in Portugal. Veterinary clinicians must be aware of this parasitosis, as trombiculids can cause exuberant clinical signs, but are often misdiagnosed.
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the staff of São Francisco de Assis Veterinary Clinic who provided the specimens for our study. The authors also acknowledge Zoetis Portugal for the medicines (Simparica®) provided during this project. DWR holds the FCT post-doctoral grant SFRH/BPD/115202/2016.
Funding
This work was supported by CIISA - Centro de Investigação Interdisciplinar em Sanidade Animal, Project UIDP/CVT/00276/2020, funded by FCT, by Project UIDB/CVT/00772/2020, also funded by FCT, and by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (project No. AAAA-A19-119020790133–6, to AAS).
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David W. Ramilo: conceptualization; data curation; formal analysis; investigation; methodology; writing, original draft. Pedro Costa: conceptualization; data curation; formal analysis; investigation; methodology; writing, original draft. Alexandr A. Stekolnikov: formal analysis; visualization; writing, review and editing. João Martinho Cláudio: data curation; formal analysis; investigation; methodology; resources. Ana Mafalda Lourenço: formal analysis; Isabel Pereira da Fonseca: supervision; writing, review and editing. Luís Cardoso: supervision; writing, review and editing.
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Ramilo, D.W., Costa, P., Stekolnikov, A.A. et al. First report of Ericotrombidium ibericense in domestic dogs. Acta Parasit. 66, 253–258 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11686-020-00247-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11686-020-00247-6