The first report of Hoploleura sciuricola infestation in a gray squirrel in Iran

The popularity and maintenance of the Iranian gray squirrel have been increasing in the last decade. However, due to the special conditions of keeping and the exotic nature of this animal, the possibility of transmission of pathogenic objects such as bacterial, fungal, and parasitic infections and the transmission of many common diseases between humans and animals are raised in a case study of a collar infestation. The female squirrel was observed to be 65 days old and morphological examinations revealed the possibility of infestation with Hoploleura sciuricola lice. Previously, there were no reports of infestation with this louse in Iran. To accurately determine the sex and species of this louse, two pairs of primers designed from the mitochondrial gene (COX-I) that had protected regions in the genus of this louse were used, which led to the confirmation of the identity of the infestation and the first report of the existence of this louse in Iran was confirmed.