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 ♂ ♂, 352 ♀ ♀ 2; prevalence, 97%; mean intensity 2.1); the brown dog tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus (Latreille) (118 ♂ ♂, 119 ♀ ♀, 38 nymphs; prevalence, 22%; mean intensity, 3.8); and the lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum (L.) (8 ♂ ♂, 26 ♀ ♀, 2 nymphs; prevalence, 5%; mean intensity, 2.4). Other ticks recovered were Ixodes cookei Packard (3 ♀ ♀); the Gulf Coast tick, Amblyomma maculatum Koch (2 ♂ ♂); and the blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis Say (1♀). Another adult female specimen of I. scapularis was recovered from a cat, further reinforcing that this medically important tick is present in northwestern Georgia.