, 2009, Chomel, 2011, Reis et al., 2011 and Siroky et al., 2011). Although more common in colder climates, I. ricinus can be found in the warmer climate conditions of the Mediterranean region as demonstrated by Dantas-Torres and Otranto (2013), who showed that I. ricinus is present in southern Italy where it remains active throughout the year with spatiotemporal distribution patterns that are distinct from central and north European populations. The expansion of the geographic and temporal incidence of ticks throughout Europe and the increased movement of people Selleck Galunisertib and their companion animals between countries strengthen the need for effective tick control measures for dogs year-round

( Otranto et al., 2009a and Otranto et al., 2009b). The present study describes the results of three experimental studies that assessed the efficacy of afoxolaner, a new insecticide–acaricide administered orally in a soft chewable formulation (Nexgard®, Merial), against I. ricinus and D. reticulatus in dogs. This new acaricide was tested for its curative property Dorsomorphin datasheet (i.e., its ability to kill

ticks when administered to an infested dog), and for its prophylactic properties (i.e., its ability to prevent tick re-infestations for 30 days after treatment). Fifty-two dogs were included in three laboratory studies. Each study included 16–20 beagle or mongrel dogs of both sexes using a negative CYTH4 controlled randomized block design (Table 1). All dogs were healthy, >6 months of age, between 7.9 and 18.4 kg bodyweight at inclusion, and no dogs had been infested by ticks nor treated with

any insecticidal–acaricidal drug in a 3-month period before inclusion. The health condition of all dogs was monitored at least once daily and additionally once per hour during the first four h post treatment. They were acclimated to the study conditions for at least 7 days prior to treatment. All dogs had free access to water and were fed a commercial diet provided in an amount and manner that supplied nutrient and energy requirements to ensure their health and well-being. All animal procedures in this study were reviewed and approved by the Merial Ethics Committee (USDA, 2008). The study design was in accordance with the World Association for the Advancement of Veterinary Parasitology (WAAVP) guidelines for evaluating the efficacy of parasiticides for the treatment, prevention and control of flea and tick infestation on dogs and cats (Marchiondo et al., 2013), and was conducted in accordance with Good Clinical Practices as described in International Cooperation on Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Registration of Veterinary Medicinal Products (VICH) guideline GL9 ( EMEA, 2000). In each of the 3 studies, two groups of equal size were randomly formed based on decreasing pre-treatment tick counts (performed during acclimation, 48 h after infestation).