Shelters in Jordan accommodate a huge number of dogs, which are rescued as stray dogs
from different cities of the country, but their health receives almost no attention.
The aim of this study was to examine tick infestation as well as tick-borne protozoa
and bacteria of 80 randomly sampled dogs in two Jordanian shelters.
Ticks identified as Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato were found on 14 out of 27
animals in a shelter. No ticks were found on dogs in the other shelter. A total of
42 (52.5% [95% confidence interval: 41.7–63.1]) dogs were infected with one or two
pathogens. The DNA of three protozoal (Hepatozoon canis, Babesia vogeli, and Babesia
negevi) and two bacterial (Anaplasma platys and Candidatus Bartonella merieuxii) species
were detected in the blood samples. To the best of the authors' knowledge, except
for H. canis, these species are reported for the first time from Jordan.
