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The enigma of the dog mummy from Ancient Egypt and the origin of ‘Rhipicephalus sanguineus’

BACKGROUND: Ticks belonging to the Rhipicephalus sanguineus group are amongst the most important vectors of pathogenic microorganisms to dogs and humans. However, the taxonomy of this species group is still the subject of debate, especially because there is no type specimen or reliable morphological...

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Autores principales: Otranto, Domenico, Huchet, Jean-Bernard, Giannelli, Alessio, Callou, Cecile, Dantas-Torres, Filipe
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2014
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3896854/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24438558
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1756-3305-7-2
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author Otranto, Domenico
Huchet, Jean-Bernard
Giannelli, Alessio
Callou, Cecile
Dantas-Torres, Filipe
author_facet Otranto, Domenico
Huchet, Jean-Bernard
Giannelli, Alessio
Callou, Cecile
Dantas-Torres, Filipe
author_sort Otranto, Domenico
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Ticks belonging to the Rhipicephalus sanguineus group are amongst the most important vectors of pathogenic microorganisms to dogs and humans. However, the taxonomy of this species group is still the subject of debate, especially because there is no type specimen or reliable morphological description for Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu stricto. Recently, a comprehensive morphological and genetic study on representative tick specimens from Europe, Africa, Americas, and Oceania, revealed the existence of at least four morphologically and genetically distinct species under the name ‘R. sanguineus’ infesting dogs from different countries. METHODS: Herein, we examined morphologically tick specimens retrieved on a dog mummy from Ancient Egypt (ca. 1(st) century – 4(th) century A.D.). The dog mummy and associated ticks were found during an archaeological expedition conducted in El Deir. RESULTS: Scanning electron micrographs allowed us to assess their identity as belonging to the R. sanguineus group. In addition on the basis of the scutal punctation pattern, spiracular plates, width of dorsal tail of spiracular plates relative to the adjacent festoon, female genital aperture, male adanal plates and accessory shields, these ticks were tentatively identified as Rhipicephalus sp. II (=temperate species). CONCLUSIONS: It can be concluded that R. sanguineus group ticks have infested dogs living in the Mediterranean region since ancient times. This finding represents the oldest record of ticks on any animal species and adds a new piece in the complex puzzle regarding tick parasitism on dogs and humans and their role as vectors of pathogens.
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spelling pubmed-38968542014-01-22 The enigma of the dog mummy from Ancient Egypt and the origin of ‘Rhipicephalus sanguineus’ Otranto, Domenico Huchet, Jean-Bernard Giannelli, Alessio Callou, Cecile Dantas-Torres, Filipe Parasit Vectors Research BACKGROUND: Ticks belonging to the Rhipicephalus sanguineus group are amongst the most important vectors of pathogenic microorganisms to dogs and humans. However, the taxonomy of this species group is still the subject of debate, especially because there is no type specimen or reliable morphological description for Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu stricto. Recently, a comprehensive morphological and genetic study on representative tick specimens from Europe, Africa, Americas, and Oceania, revealed the existence of at least four morphologically and genetically distinct species under the name ‘R. sanguineus’ infesting dogs from different countries. METHODS: Herein, we examined morphologically tick specimens retrieved on a dog mummy from Ancient Egypt (ca. 1(st) century – 4(th) century A.D.). The dog mummy and associated ticks were found during an archaeological expedition conducted in El Deir. RESULTS: Scanning electron micrographs allowed us to assess their identity as belonging to the R. sanguineus group. In addition on the basis of the scutal punctation pattern, spiracular plates, width of dorsal tail of spiracular plates relative to the adjacent festoon, female genital aperture, male adanal plates and accessory shields, these ticks were tentatively identified as Rhipicephalus sp. II (=temperate species). CONCLUSIONS: It can be concluded that R. sanguineus group ticks have infested dogs living in the Mediterranean region since ancient times. This finding represents the oldest record of ticks on any animal species and adds a new piece in the complex puzzle regarding tick parasitism on dogs and humans and their role as vectors of pathogens. BioMed Central 2014-01-20 /pmc/articles/PMC3896854/ /pubmed/24438558 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1756-3305-7-2 Text en Copyright © 2014 Otranto et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
spellingShingle Research
Otranto, Domenico
Huchet, Jean-Bernard
Giannelli, Alessio
Callou, Cecile
Dantas-Torres, Filipe
The enigma of the dog mummy from Ancient Egypt and the origin of ‘Rhipicephalus sanguineus’
title The enigma of the dog mummy from Ancient Egypt and the origin of ‘Rhipicephalus sanguineus’
title_full The enigma of the dog mummy from Ancient Egypt and the origin of ‘Rhipicephalus sanguineus’
title_fullStr The enigma of the dog mummy from Ancient Egypt and the origin of ‘Rhipicephalus sanguineus’
title_full_unstemmed The enigma of the dog mummy from Ancient Egypt and the origin of ‘Rhipicephalus sanguineus’
title_short The enigma of the dog mummy from Ancient Egypt and the origin of ‘Rhipicephalus sanguineus’
title_sort enigma of the dog mummy from ancient egypt and the origin of ‘rhipicephalus sanguineus’
topic Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3896854/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24438558
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1756-3305-7-2
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