Survey of flea infestation in cats and dogs in Western Andalusia, Spain: Seasonality and other risk factors for flea infestation

Abstract

This epidemiological survey aims to provide an update on the main flea species that parasitize domestic animals in the Western Andalusia assessing several ecological features that could be considered as possible risk factors for flea infestation. Over a 19-month period (June 2021 to January 2023), we obtained a total of 802 flea samples from 182 dogs (Canis lupus familiaris, Carnivora: Canidae, Linnaeus, 1758) and 78 cats (Felis silvestris catus, Carnivora: Felidae, Schreber, 1775). For each parasitized host, an epidemiological survey was completed, including the following information: geographical origin, age, sex, rural or urban habitat, type of animal's lifestyle (domestic or non-domestic), health status, cohabiting or not with other animals and the total number of collected fleas. The most common species was Ctenocephalides felis (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae) (Bouché, 1835) with a total of 713 specimens, which accounted for 89% of the total fleas. The second most abundant species was Pulex irritans (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae) (Linnaeus, 1758) with a total of 46 collected fleas (6% of the total). The remaining species identified were Archaeopsylla erinacei (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae) (Bouché, 1835) (25 specimens), Spilopsyllus cuniculi (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae) (Dale, 1878) (12 specimens) and Ctenocephalides canis (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae) (Curtis, 1826) (6 specimens), which accounted for 3%, 1% and 1%, respectively, of the total fleas collected. The months with the highest number of collected fleas were, in ascending order, May 2022, September 2021 and July 2021. Dogs had a greater diversity of flea species, and flea sex ratios were female biased in all identified species and among all studied hosts. Finally, we identified some potential host risk factors that promoted higher flea intensities, such as living in rural areas, or presenting other pathologies.