Tick and flea infestation in a captive Margay Leoparduswiedii (Schinz, 1821) (Carnivora:Felidae: Felinae) in Peru
Miryam Quevedo1, Luis Gómez 2 & Jesús Lescano 3
1,3 Laboratory of Animal Anatomy and
Wildlife, School of Veterinary Medicine, San Marcos University, 2800 Circunvalación Avenue, Lima 41, Peru
2 Laboratory of Veterinary
Preventive Medicine, School of Veterinary Medicine, San Marcos University, 2800Circunvalación Avenue, Lima 41, Peru
1 mquevedo@veterinaria-unmsm.edu.pe,2 lucho92@yahoo.com, 3 jlescano@veterinaria-unmsm.edu.pe
(corresponding author)
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o3666.5501-2 | ZooBank: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:B07627EB-996E-4601-815B-4EB41DC0376D
Editor: Ulrike Streicher,
Wildlife Veterinarian / Wildlife Management Consultant, Vietnam. Date
of publication: 26 February 2014 (online & print)
Manuscript details: Ms # o3666 | Received 16 June
2013 | Final received 09 February 2014 | Finally accepted 12 February 2014
Citation: Quevedo, M., L. Gómez & J. Lescano (2014). Tick and flea infestation in a
captive Margay Leopardus wiedii (Schinz, 1821) (Carnivora: Felidae: Felinae) in Peru. Journal of Threatened Taxa 6(2): 5501–5502; http://dx.doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o3666.5501-2
Copyright: © Quevedo et al. 2014. Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 UnportedLicense. JoTT allows unrestricted use of this
article in any medium, reproduction and distribution by providing adequate
credit to the authors and the source of publication.
Funding: None.
Competing Interest: The authors declare no
competing interests.
The Margay, Gato Tigre or Tigrillo Leopardus wiedii,
is a small-sized solitary felid which can be found from southern Texas (USA) to
northern Uruguay, mainly occupying forest habitats (Bianchi et al. 2011). It is classified as
Near Threatened by the IUCN Red List and its population is considered to
be decreasing (Payan et al. 2008). Major threats faced by this species
include habitat loss and fragmentation, accidents along roads, illegal trade
(pets and skins), and retaliatory killing (animals are often shot due to
predation on poultry) (Payan et al. 2008).
The impacts of diseases on
wildlife are increasingly recognized (Bevins et al.
2012). The exposure of Brazilian
free-ranging wild felids to infectious agents such as Herpesvirus,Calicivirus, Parvovirus and Ehrlichiahas already found by Filoni et al. (2006). Moreover, tick species including Amblyomma ovale, A. parvum, A. cajennense, Boophilus microplus and Ixodes aragaoi have
been reported infesting Brazilian Pumas Puma concolor(Labruna et al. 2005) and A. aureolatumand A. ovale have been reported parasitizing
on free-ranging Brazilian Margays Leopardus wiedii (Martins et al. 2010). But to date little is known about ectoparasites infesting Peruvian wild felids.
Results: A male cub Margay was
presented for consultation in Lima, Peru. Anamnesis revealed the Margay came from the region of Madre de Dios in
Peru. Moreover, the Margay had been
kept as a pet for about 15 days, during which it had lived together with
domestic dogs and cats. At physical
examination the cub presented a mild infestation of ectoparasites(ticks and fleas) (Image 1), poor body condition,
pallid and yellowish mucous membranes, dehydration, anorexia and lethargy;
supportive therapy was administered based on clinical signs. Fleas and ticks were collected directly
off the animal and identified as Rhipicephalus sanguineus and Ctenocephalides felis by using the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention
(CDC) (2013) keys.
Discussion and Conclusions: To the authors´ knowledge, this is the first report of R. sanguineus and C. felisparasitizing on a margay from Peru, hence, this finding increases the number of
host species for these parasites. However, as the Margay had direct contact with dogs and cats, this
interaction might have been the source of infestation.
The genus Rhipicephalusis known to transmit tick-borne diseases such as ehrlichiosis,anaplasmosis and babesiosis(Aktas et al. 2009; Götschet al. 2009) and the effects of one or more of these infections could be
associated with the clinical signs observed in this animal (i.e., pallid and
yellowish mucous membranes, anorexia, dehydration and lethargy), which have
been found in felids manifesting ehrlichiosis (Stich
et al. 2008).
Based on this finding,
special attention should be paid to interactions between Margays and domestic animals
as the former are considered to be susceptible to disease outbreaks (Payan et al. 2008).
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