Brown Dog Tick

A cosmopolitan species, it can be found worldwide with the exception of the United Kingdom where Hoyle et al. 2001 and Bates et al. 2002 found it only in quarantine kennels. No further intrusion into the UK has been found as of 2010. Due to global warming the distribution is changing with autochthonous cases in Hungary, for example, emerging and increasing since 2005.

Rhipicephalus sanguineus is one of the most important vectors of diseases in dogs worldwide. In the United States, R. sanguineus is a vector of many disease-causing pathogens in dogs, including Ehrlichia canis, which causes canine ehrlichiosis, and Babesia canis, which is responsible for canine babesiosis. In dogs, symptoms of canine ehrlichiosis include lameness and fever; those for babesiosis include fever, anorexia, and anemia. R. sanguineus has not been shown to transmit the bacteria that cause Lyme disease in humans. In parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, it is a vector of Rickettsia conorii, known locally as Mediterranean spotted fever, boutonneuse fever, or tick typhus. It can also transmit Rickettsia rickettsii, the bacteria responsible for causing Rocky Mountain spotted fever in humans in the Southwestern United States.