{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,4]],"date-time":"2026-08-04T10:43:50Z","timestamp":1785840230198,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,4]],"date-time":"2026-08-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785801600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Insects"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Ectoparasites cause skin lesions, anemia, and mortality in wild animals and act as vectors of zoonotic pathogens. This study reports ectoparasites detected during an opportunistic survey on wild mammals admitted to the Van Yuzuncu Yil University Wildlife Protection and Rehabilitation Center in eastern T\u00fcrkiye during 2024\u20132025. Due to the opportunistic nature of sampling, the findings primarily reflect parasite burdens in injured or debilitated individuals and may not be representative of healthy free-ranging populations. Of the 28 animals examined, 20 (71.4%) were infested. A total of 449 ectoparasites were collected: 370 fleas (82.4%), 58 ticks (12.9%), and 21 lice (4.7%). Identified species included four fleas (Paraceras melis, Chaetopsylla globiceps, Pulex irritans, Archaeopsylla erinacei), four ticks (Ixodes kaiseri, Rhipicephalus turanicus, Haemaphysalis parva, Haemaphysalis erinacei), and one louse (Trichodectes melis). This study provides new host\u2013ectoparasite association records for T\u00fcrkiye: I. kaiseri and R. turanicus on beech marten (Martes foina); I. kaiseri and C. globiceps on Eurasian badger (Meles meles); and P. irritans on Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) and brown bear (Ursus arctos). Bipartite network analysis revealed moderate specialization (H2\u2019 = 0.52) and marked variation in host specificity, with T. melis, A. erinacei, and P. melis showing high host specificity (d\u2019 &gt; 0.85), whereas Chaetopsylla globiceps and Pulex irritans acted as generalists (d\u2019 &lt; 0.30). Some identified ectoparasites are known or suspected vectors of zoonotic pathogens. These findings provide baseline data for future research on wildlife health and disease transmission risks in the region.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/insects17080807","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,4]],"date-time":"2026-08-04T09:15:22Z","timestamp":1785834922000},"page":"807","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Ectoparasite Infestations in Wild Mammals from the Lake Van Basin, Eastern T\u00fcrkiye, with Notes on New Host Records"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0749-2418","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ali Bilgin","family":"Y\u0131lmaz","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Health Sciences, Van Y\u00fcz\u00fcnc\u00fc Y\u0131l University, Tu\u015fba, Van 65080, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1978-4127","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Milad","family":"Af\u015far","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Medical Parasitology, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Van Y\u00fcz\u00fcnc\u00fc Y\u0131l University, Tu\u015fba, Van 65080, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Muhammed","family":"Yasul","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Home Health Care Program, Health Care Services Department, Bart\u0131n University School of Health Services, Bart\u0131n 74100, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mahsa Torkamanian","family":"Afshar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Software Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, \u0130stanbul Topkap\u0131 University, \u0130stanbul 34020, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Adnan","family":"Ayan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Aksaray University, Aksaray 68100, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"\u00d6zge Oktay","family":"Ayan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Medical Parasitology, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Van Y\u00fcz\u00fcnc\u00fc Y\u0131l University, Tu\u015fba, Van 65080, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ya\u015far","family":"G\u00f6z","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Health Sciences, Van Y\u00fcz\u00fcnc\u00fc Y\u0131l University, Tu\u015fba, Van 65080, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lo\u011fman","family":"Aslan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Wildlife Protection and Rehabilitation Center, Van Y\u00fcz\u00fcnc\u00fc Y\u0131l University, Tu\u015fba, Van 65080, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"985","DOI":"10.20506\/rst.13.4.815","article-title":"Ectoparasites and classification","volume":"13","author":"Hopla","year":"1994","journal-title":"Rev. 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