Veterinry World, EISSN: 2231-0916 Aville t www.veterinryworld.org/vol.8/octoer-2015/2.pdf RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access Tick fun of Mlysin red jungle fowl (Gllus gllus) in Bngi, Mlysi M. Konto 1,3, G. I. Fuf 2, A. Zkri 2, S. M. Tukur 1,3, M. Wtne 2, S. D. Ol-Fdunsin 2, M. S. Khn 1,4, Y. M. Shettim 3 nd S. M. A. Bjee 2 1. Deprtment of Compnion Animl Medicine nd Surgery, Fculty of Veterinry Medicine, Universiti Putr Mlysi, Serdng, Mlysi; 2. Deprtment of Veterinry Lortory Dignostics, Fculty of Veterinry Medicine, Universiti Putr Mlysi, Serdng, Mlysi; 3. Deprtment of Microiology nd Prsitology, Fculty of Veterinry Medicine, University of Miduguri, Nigeri; 4. Deprtment of Bio Sciences, Goml College of Veterinry Sciences, Goml University, Der Ismil Khn, Pkistn. Corresponding uthor: S. M. A. Bjee, e-mil: sm_min@upm.edu.my, MK: kontomohmmed@yhoo.com, GIF: fufgim@yhoo.com, AZ: eyed_dmy02@yhoo.com, SMT: slmtukur@yhoo.com, MW: mhir_w@yhoo.com, SDO: olshodm2@yhoo.com, MSK: Shoiloch2002@yhoo.com, YMS: yshshettim@gmil.com Received: 14-05-2015, Revised: 24-08-2015, Accepted: 03-09-2015, Pulished online: 09-10-2015 doi: 10.14202/vetworld.2015.1167-1171 How to cite this rticle: Konto M, Fuf GI, Zkri A, Tukur SM, Wtne M, Ol- Fdunsin SD, Khn MS, Shettim YM, Bjee SMA (2015) Tick fun of Mlysin red jungle fowl (Gllus gllus) in Bngi, Mlysi, Veterinry World 8(10): 1167-1171. Astrct Aim: The red jungle fowl is generlly considered s one of the endngered Asin wild Glleophesnts due to mnmde encrochment of their hitts, coupled with the effect of disese nd disese cusing orgnisms like ticks nd tickorne infections. This study imed to determine the tick fun of the red jungle fowl nd their predilection sites sed on developmentl stges. Mterils nd Methods: A totl of 33 jungle fowls were smpled for this study from Bngi re of Selngor Stte, Peninsulr Mlysin. The irds were cptured using loclly mde trp mde-up of loops nd ites. Ticks present on their odies were detched using fine forceps nd identified morphologiclly under dissecting microscope. Results: 91% of the jungle fowls were infested with ticks, ll of which elongs to the species Hemphyslis wellingtoni. The er region ppered to e the most common predilection site (63%) for ll the developmentl stges in which the lrvl stges re solely restricted to tht region. Nymphl nd dult stges were distriuted on the com, wttle, nd fcil region in ddition to the er region. Conclusion: This study ws the first in its kind nd showed high prevlence of tick infesttion mong jungle fowls. H. wellingtoni ws known to e vector in trnsmission of mny tick-orne pthogens. Therefore, there is the need for further investigtion to identify the vrious pthogens ssocited with this tick. Keywords: Bngi, Mlysi, red jungle fowl, tick fun. Introduction Ticks re one of the most importnt ectoprsites of red jungle fowl. They re found ttched to different prts of the ody sucking lood nd incresing the risk of infection to vrious microorgnisms in humns nd nimls [1-3]. Cliniclly, they cn e nuisnce; their ites cn cuse irrittion nd itching, ccompnied y tissue nd humorl rection of the host, hyperemi, eosinophil infiltrtion, nd locl edemtous rection [4]. The dmged tissues re pulled y the weight of the feeding tick nd thus produce senstion of pin [5-7]. Among the four species: Red jungle fowl (Gllus gllus), Sri Lnk jungle fowl (Gllus lfyetii), Grey jungle fowl (Gllus sonnertii), nd Green jungle fowl (Gllus vrius), the red jungle fowl ws considered of more historic importnce for eing the likely ncestrl origin of our domestic chickens [8-10]. Two suspecies of the red jungle fowl re Gllus gllus gllus nd Gllus gllus spdiceus. An importnt distinguishing feture etween the two is the presence of white er ptch in the suspecies G.g. gllus (Figure-1 nd ) while the suspecies G.g. spdiceus hs red er ptch (Figure-2 nd -). They re cosmopolitn in distriution nd more common to the foot of the Himlys (Northest Indi), southern Chin nd down to the Southest Asin region [8,10]. One distinctive chrcteristic of this species s compred to other glleophesnts fmily is tht the mle does not tke prt in the incution of eggs or rering of the younger ones [11]. Tick infesttion mong this clss of irds is highly under estimted, leding to pucity of informtion Copyright: The uthors. This rticle is n open ccess rticle licensed under the terms of the Cretive Commons Attriutin License (http:// cretive commons.org/licenses/y/2.0) which permits unrestricted use, distriution nd reproduction in ny medium, provided the work is properly cited. Figure-1: () Mle Gllus gllus gllus, () femle G. gllus gllus. Veterinry World, EISSN: 2231-0916 1167
worldwide. This reserch ws, therefore, designed to study the tick fun of Mlysin jungle fowls. Mterils nd Methods Ethicl pprovl This study ws conducted in Universiti Putr Mlysi under the reserch grnt No. 9424000. Informed consent nd pprovl ws otined from the communities where smpling ws conducted nd ssurnce of nonymity, prior to smpling. Procedures were conducted in such wy tht cruelty to the nimls ws minimized to the minimum. Study re Bngi (Figure-3) ws until recently considered s rurl prt of Selngor Stte, covered y oil plm plnttions which is under the Hulu Lngt district, southest of Selngor Stte in Mlysi. Locted etween Ltitude 2 55 14.54 N nd Longitude 101 46 50.98 E with rnge of 9235 m, it orders Kjng to the North, Semenyih to the est, Nili to the south, nd Putrjy (Mlysi s dministrtive cpitl) to the west. The re is sighted for Golf Resort, Hotel for visitors, nd some residentil neighorhood in Kjng. The re hs n verge reltive humidity of 83%, temperture rnges etween 33 C nd 23 C, precipittion of 4 mm nd n verge visiility of 5 km ll yer round with slight vrition. Smpling methods A totl of 33 jungle fowls from oth sexes nd ge groups (young nd dult) were smpled for the presence of ticks nd their predilection sites sed on developmentl stges of the ticks collected. The irds were cptured using loclly mde trp, mde-up of loops nd ites which were set y fixing it onto the ground in such wy tht the irds will not esily detect it. The irds were then systemticlly directed Figure-2: () Mle Gllus gllus spdiceus, () femle G. gllus spdiceus. towrd the trp nd eventully got trpped from the leg. Cptured irds were gently relesed from the trps mnully, exmined for the presence of ticks nd lter tg nd relesed to the wild unhurt. Collection of ticks nd identifiction The jungle fowls cught were physiclly exmined for presence of ticks on their ody; ticks present were detched using fine forceps, crefully done to void destroying the mouthprts nd were preserved in solute lcohol efore trnsporting them to the lortory for identifiction. Ticks collected from individul irds were put into Petri dishes ccording to their predilection sites nd exmined under dissecting microscope nd identified using the clssifiction keys of Audy [12]. Furthermore, individul ticks were mounted s mle nd femle, on dorsl nd ventrl views to identify their species using txonomic chrcteristics such s shpe nd length of mouthprts, puncttions nd orntions, presence of leg nds, scutum color, presence or sence of festoons, nd shpe of the sis cpitulum [12]. Sttisticl nlysis Dt were entered into Microsoft Office Excel spred sheet, nd sttisticl nlyzes were performed using Sttisticl Pckge for the Socil Sciences version 21.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicgo, IL). Reltions etween ctegoricl outcomes were compred using the Chisqure test nd the Fisher s exct test where smple sizes were smll. Differences etween predilection sites nd developmentl stges were nlyzed using one-wy nlysis of vrince nd Turkey post-hoc test. Sttisticl significnce ws set t p 0.1. Results The results of this investigtion reveled tht 91% of the jungle fowls smpled were infested with hrd ticks while only 9% were not tick infested (Figure-4). Following identifiction, ll ticks found elong to the genus Hemophyslis spp. (Figure-5 nd -) with ody length nd width rnging etween 1.95-1.69 nd 1.53-1.36 mm, respectively, in dult mle (t 40 opticl mgnifiction). Side y side length of the first two plpi tht projects lterlly from the sis cpituli rnges etween 0.48 nd 0.42 mm (t 40 mgnifiction) in dult mles. Figure-3: Photomicrogrph of Bngi (smpling loction). Figure-4: Prevlence of tick infesttion in the red jungle fowl. Veterinry World, EISSN: 2231-0916 1168
Prevlence nd distriution of ticks on the jungle fowls sed on sex nd ge showed tht oth mle nd femle fowl s hrored ticks t different predilection sites. Both young nd dult irds were lso tick infested. Infesttion rtes in oth sex nd ge groups were not significntly (p>0.1) different. The er ppered to e the most common predilection sites mong the fowls eing smpled (Tle-1). Distriution of ticks sed on developmentl stges during their life cycles showed tht out of the totl numer of ticks collected, the er predominte with 63% s the most predominnt (p<0.1) predilection site for ll the developmentl stge (Tle-2). The lrvl stge ws solely restricted to the er while the dult mles were more commonly found on the wttle. There ws no significnt difference (p>0.1) etween the developmentl stges (Tle-2). Discussion Susceptiility to tick infesttion mong jungle fowls s seen in this study grees with n erlier report [13]. However, the previous report did Figure-5: () Dorsl view of Hemphyslis wellingtoni, () ventrl view of H. wellingtoni. Tle-1: The prevlence nd distriution of ticks on the jungle fowls sed on sex nd ge. Ctegory Animls Predilection site (%) infected (n=30) Com Er Wttle Fce Sex Mle 6 2 4 4 - Femle 24 4 18 10 2 Age Young 2-2 - - Adult 28 6 18 14 - not give informtion regrding the prevlence nd distriution of the vrious developmentl stges to their most preferred predilection sites. Susceptiility to tick infesttion, other ectoprsites nd ssocited pthogens mong Avin spp. hs een relted to their feeding hit which is scvenging throughout the environment [13-15]. Out of curiosity, out 200 villge chickens were lso screened for the presence of tick infesttion in the sme loclity; nd the result of our investigtion reveled tht none of them ws found to e tick infested. This finding grees with erlier reports from Indi [7]; however, the ctul reson to tht finding ws lrgely unknown. The dominnce of H. wellingtoni s the most prevlent tick species on jungle fowl in the re nd the exclusion of some soft ticks like Ornithodorus spp. might e due to the fct tht the smpling ws conducted during the dy time in which some nocturnl tick vectors like Ornithodorus spp. were unle to e detected [16]. However, the presence of H. wellingtoni spp. on the jungle fowls supports n erlier report [12] who stted tht the domestic fowls re clssified hosts to Hemphyslis ispinos nd H. wellingtoni in Mly (Peninsulr Mlysi) nd Borneo nd Mly (Peninsulr Mlysi), respectively. However, there is possiility tht these vectors were trnsferred from the wild to the domestic vriety, since previous unpulished study y Amin- Bjee nd Lee in 1994 hs shown the presence of H. wellingtoni in the re. Hemophyslis spp. hve een reported to serve s vectors for the trnsmission of mny disese cusing gents in mn nd other nimls from different prts of Asi, some of which re of cteril origin cusing Lyme orreliosis in Chin [17,18], virl encephlitis [19], prsitic diseses such s ovine theileriosis in Austrli [20,21] nd different kinds of rickettsi diseses from the Mediterrnen [22], fr est Asi [23,24] to Austrli [25]. The numer of ticks collected is spred cross oth sex nd ge s result of intimcy etween the opposite sexes, more especilly during courtship. Another source of infesttion is when the jungle fowls fll sick nd hurdled themselves nd stnd still witing for scvenger ticks. Trnsmission of infesttion etween young nd dults fowls my e Tle-2: The distriution of ticks sed on developmentl stges of their lifecycle. Ctegory Numer of ticks collected (%) Predilection sites (%) Com Er Wttle Fce Totl numer of ticks 188 (100) 24 (13) 118 (63) 44 (23) 2 (1) Developmentl stge Adult 66 (35) Mle 32 (17) 4 6 28 - Femle 34 (18) 4 20 10 - Nymph 50 (27) 16 26 6 2 Lrve 72 (38) - 62 - - Row vlues with different superscripts for totl numer of ticks collected etween the predilection sites differs significntly with others (p<0.1) Veterinry World, EISSN: 2231-0916 1169
due to intimcy etween older ones nd the young ones. Similr findings hve een reported in other mmmls [1,26,27]. The er region is the most dominnt predilection site ecuse of the importnt role it plys in nourishing the engorged femle with lood mel from its numerous superficil micro-cpillries tht enles the tick to suck lood. It lso provides fvorle environment tht ids the engorged femle nd its eggs or lrvl offspring from detrimentl effects of the externl environment. It provides optimum temperture for growth, development, nd prolifertion of the different developmentl stges. The dult mle tick found in the er s seen in this study re newly metmorphosed nymphs to dults. This cn esily e oserved nd differentited y ody size. Conclusion It cn e concluded tht H. wellingtoni is the common tick species found on Mlysin red jungle fowl in the study re, nd the er is the most dominnt predilection site for most of the developmentl stges. The tick species identified nd its high prevlence in the study re clls for the need to cur their mence, s this species is known to trnsmit different pthogens some of which re of pulic helth significnce. Recommendtions This study covers only smll unit re nd uses smll smple size; therefore, it is recommended tht lrger smple size with mny smpling units should e used nd the need to further investigte ssocited tick-orne pthogens is prmount. Authors Contriutions SMAB nd MK conceived the project. GIF, AZ, SMT, MW, SDO, MSK nd YMS prticipted in the generl design, smple collection, dt nlysis, drft nd revision of the mnuscript. All uthors red nd pproved the finl mnuscript. Acknowledgments The uthors re most grteful to Assoc. 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