identification of fleas collected from wild carnivores in different regions of iran

Wild carnivores are regarded as important reservoirs of arthropods via which several pathogens are transmitted to other wild and domestic animal species and humans. in iran, various wild carnivores are scattered throughout the country but information about their ectoparasites is very rare. in this survey fleas collected from road-killed animals were diagnosed. between 2017 and 2023 flea specimens were collected from 17 red foxes (vuples vulpes, abbr. v), 4 golden jackals (canis aureus, c), and 1 striped hyena (hyaena hyaena, h) in four provinces of hamedan (f=2, j=2, h=1), kermanshah (f=1, j=1), kerman (f=13, j=1), sistan-va-balouchestan (f=1). in the laboratory, fleas were cleared in 10% koh solution and identified to the species level microscopically. in total, 187 specimens were collected. the intensity of infestation was higher in jackals (mean 14, range 1–38) compared with foxes (7.5, 1–30). five flea species i.e. ctenocephalides felis, ctenocephalides canis, ctenocephalides orientis, pulex irritans, and nosopsyllus sp. were identified. the most abundant flea species infesting both foxes and jackals was c. canis. the examined hyena was infested with c. felis only. of note, c. orientis –formerly known as c. felis orientis– was collected from 1 jackal in hamedan, and 3 foxes in hamedan and kerman. one rat flea specimen, nosopsyllus sp., observed on a red fox in kerman was possibly a contamination acquired by predation. this preliminary study presents the first insight into the flea fauna of wild carnivores in the studied areas. since the identified flea taxa can transmit several microbes e.g. rickettsia, ehrlichia, anaplasma, francisella, coxiella, and trypanosoma some of which are pathogenic for different mammals including humans, implementation of management practices to reduce threats to carnivores and keeping them away from domestic animals and humans are suggested.