Interception of the brown dog tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus, infesting man

Authors: Heath ACG
Publication: New Zealand Veterinary Journal, Volume 34, Issue 5, pp 76-77, May 1986
Publisher: Taylor and Francis

Animal type: Companion animal, Dog, Human
Subject Terms: Biosecurity, Inflammation, Integument/skin/wool/hair/fur/feather, Disease/defect, Notifiable organisms/exotic disease, Import/export/trade, Parasites - external
Article class: Correspondence

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Abstract: On 30 September 1985 a partially engorged female brown dog tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus was taken from the scalp, near the vertex, of a nine year old female child during a visit to a hairdresser in Lower Hutt. The child had returned from Papua New Guinea nine days previously and it can be assumed that the tick was acquired there as there are no known populations of R. sanguineus established in New Zealand. When the child was seen by a medical practitioner there were no lesions on her scalp apart from a small raised lump where the tick had been attached. It is not unusual for humans to be infested by R. sanguineus in endemic areas where it is a serious pest of dogs and domestic livestock. However, man is a low-preference host for the tick and this would probably explain why there is only one previous record of R. sanguineus from man in Australasia and the southwest Pacific, although it is widespread in this region. The tick was received at Wallaceville Animal Research Centre on 4 October and placed in a glass vial with a gauze cap and left at ambient temperature. By 18 October a few eggs had been laid and the tick continued to oviposit over the next three to four weeks. The tick was still alive on 23 December but was dead when next examined on 13 January 1986. The eggs showed no signs of embryogenesis and had become desiccated…

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