Lus hos und i Sverige

English title: Prevalence of lice found on dogs in Sweden

An investigation was performed on the prevalence of lice found on dogs in Sweden. The survey had two parts.

The first study was based on the submissions made by veterinary practitioners throughout Sweden, to the National Veterinary Institute, Uppsala. Samples were received from 117 dogs, representing 49 breeds, during April-June 1997. Detailed hisory was also obtained, which included age and sexc of the dog, previous treatment and the number of dogs kept by owener. All except 3, of these submissions were positive  for lice and the overwhelming proportion (96%0 were found to be Linognathus setosus, with the remainder being Trichodectes canis. No mixed infections were observed. The submissions from the 3 dogs which were negative for lice were found to be the tick Ixodes ricinus.

The second study consists of 66 dogs infected with lice. Tje cases were diagnosed in animals presented at the dermatology service at the Bla Stjarnan small animal hospital in Gothenburg, between January 1996 and March 1997. This work only detected L. setosus.

It is claerly apparent that the blood sucking louse, L. setosus is the most abundant louse found on dogs in Sweden. There was no consistent relationship with the presence and/or abundance of lice and age of sex of dogs. Although 83 % of the infected dogs were represented by long-haired brreds, there is no significant coorelation between hair length and susceptibility to lice, as 65 % of all dog registered in Sweden are long hair.

Lice infection of dogs seems to be a reccuring problem, as 40 % of oweners reported that they had previously treated their dogs against lice with ectoparasiticides. It is also seems that density of dogs plas an important role, as five of the six kennel establishments of the first investigation had treated their dogs previously.

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