Brown Dog Tick
Brown Dog Tick
The Brown dog tick or kennel tick is one of the most widely distributed tick on the world.
It is generally believed that this species of tick cannot overwinter in the more northern United States or northern Europe except within buildings with centralized heating.
The Brown dog tick is almost exclusively a parasite of dogs.
For this reason, all tick life stages may be found behind baseboards, under window and door moldings, in window pulley openings or in furniture.
Adults are found most often in the ears and between the toes of dogs.
Adults can live up to 1 1/2 years, without feeding, but must feed before mating. After mating, the female completely engorges herself with blood and then drops off the host to lay eggs.
The Brown dog tick or Rhipicephalus sanguineus is a putative vector of Ehrlichia canis, a gram-negative, intracellulear bacterium that causes canine ehrlichiosis. Other pathogens are Babesia vogeli, a other protozoan parasite that causes canine babesiosis, Rickettsia rickettsii, the causative agent of Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF), and other Rickettsia species such as R. belli, R. rhipicephali and R. montana.
