PROJECT
Research title
Description of the problem
It is perceived that one of the most frequent problems in canines, at any stage of their life, is the high probability of contracting ticks. These animals are arthropods belonging to the order of mites. There are two families of ticks: soft and hard ticks, the latter being the ones that parasitize our pets. Males and females are differentiated, their size varies from a few millimeters to a centimeter in length, and the coloration, variable according to the species, can be brownish-brown or grayish. They have four pairs of legs and a specialized mouthparts called capitulum, which allows them to penetrate the skin and feed on the blood of host animals.
A tick can absorb a minimum amount of blood, which does not seriously affect its host, i.e. a dog can support a minimum amount of such a host without any problem, since it is understood that the maximum time of lodging is 1 month and a half. But if ticks are numerous, the animal can become weakened and thus begin to suffer from serious and important diseases.
The real epidemiological importance of ticks is based on the different possibilities of being able to transmit serious or important diseases to dogs, the most common are: Lyme, symptoms may take a few weeks or even months to become visible. In this disease there are very broad symptoms and there may be dogs that do not show all of them. It may be that only one symptom is manifested, such as lameness which is the most common symptom, however, these are the symptoms: recurrent lameness; this is due to inflammation of the canine joints, as well as arthritis and deformation in the joints, sensitivity to touch, muscle aches, and in the area of the bite inflammation or irritation, fever, lack of appetite or depression, and in one of the worst cases, carditis or inflammation in the heart.
Another canine disease is anaplasmosis, which causes flu-like symptoms in our canine. High fever is the main effect, and can be accompanied by diarrhea, vomiting and inflammation and paralysis of the joints.
Babeosis is a disease that causes a gradual anemia in the canine; it also has as characteristic symptoms fever and a yellow discoloration in the canine's body tissues. The yellowish coloration is caused by the increase of bilirubin in the blood.
The tick species to be treated in this research is of the hard type and its scientific name is Rhipicephalus sanguineus (Rs), better known as the brown tick, which is not limited to remain on dogs, they also adhere to people and other animals.
In canines these parasites are commonly found behind the ears, between the toes, while young ticks are located on the back of the animal.
Ticks, adapting well in urban environments, including those in which they and their larvae are able to live up to 8 months without food (host), can dominate accidental infections in humans. Rather, they tend to climb walls and move into neighboring areas. (Roque, 2016).
Research question
How to make a kibble for dogs that contains the extract of Azadirachtin from the seed of the Neem tree, as an anti-tick agent that does not generate an adverse reaction in them?
General objetive
Develop a canine kibble containing Azadirachtin extracted from the seed of the Neem tree, which prevents and eliminates the canine tick Rhipicephalus sanguineus (Rs).
Specific objetives
- To extract Azadirachtin from the seed of Neem tree (Azadirachta indica); A.Juss, by Soxhlet extraction method.
- To determine the insecticidal effectiveness of different concentrations of azadirachtin on Rhipicephalus sanguineus, by means of a bioassay under in vitro conditions.
- To elaborate kibble from the mixture of different excipients and ingredients, with the appropriate concentration of Azadirachtin obtained.