A PCR study of piroplasms in 166 dogs and 111 horses in France (March 2006 to March 2008)

Abstract

Positive PCR results for piroplasms were obtained on EDTA blood samples from 166 dogs and 111 horses between March 2006 and March 2008. The organisms were initially identified using common primers, followed by restriction enzyme profiles to determine the species and types of Babesia/Theileria. In 27 dogs and eight horses with positive results, the size of the specimen was insufficient to separate species/types. We identified Babesia canis canis in 105 of the 166 dogs (63%) and Theileria equi in 89 of the 111 horses (80%). Babesia caballi was also present, but rare, in only two Babesia/Theileria of the 111 horses (1.2%). Unexpected findings were the identification of T. equi in 31 of the 166 dogs (19%), of B. caballi in one of the 166 dogs (0.6%), of B. canis canis in 11 of 111 horses (10%), as well as of Babesia canis rossi in one of 111 horses (0.9%). A positive result for B. canis rossi was also obtained in one of the 166 dogs (0.6%). A single case of the California type of "Babesia gibsoni" (presumably Babesia conradae) was found in a dog. We did not detect Babesia canis vogeli, possibly because of the geographic distribution of our clients. The unusual results were confirmed by DNA sequencing in several cases for B. canis canis and B. canis rossi in horses, as well as T. equi in dogs. Such infections might explain the difficulties met in some unsuccessfully treated animals using the standard dosage of imidocarb dipropionate at 3 mg/kg in dogs.

Stray dogs of northern Jordan as reservoirs of ticks and tick-borne hemopathogens

“…Interestingly, sequencing of the amplicons did not reveal the above-mentioned known canine hostspecific species; indisputably, the obtained sequences are most similar to those of equine piroplasmids B. caballi and T. equi. It is worth mentioning that our results are analogous with recent studies from Spain, Croatia, and France (Criado-Fornelio et al 2003;Beck et al 2009;Fritz 2010). Nevertheless, the occurrence of host-specific canine piroplasmids was previously recorded in the Middle East region in Israel (Gal et al 2007).…”

“…In these cases, the reservoir role of the dog is neglected. Recent studies revealed the possibility of dog infection with equine piroplasmids Babesia caballi and Theileria equi (Beck et al 2009;Fritz 2010) questioning the host specificity of piroplasmids in general.…”

Occurrence of Theileria equi in horses raised in the Jaboticabal microregion, São Paulo State, Brazil

“…All six samples positive microscopically were also positive for nPCR. Molecular methods have been extensively used to detect T. equi infection (CACCIÒ et al, 2000;NICOLAIEWSKY et al, 2001;RAMPERSAD et al, 2003;HEIM et al, 2007;BALDANI et al, 2008;FRITZ, 2010). The nPCR using oligonucleotides designed on the sequence of a T. equi merozoite antigen gene (EMA-1) used in the present study was able to detect the parasite in blood with a corresponding parasitemia of 0.000008% (BALDANI et al, 2008) or 0.000006%, equal to six infected cells out of 10 8 erythrocytes (NICOLAIEWSKY et al, 2001).…”

“…The assays are mainly based on ribosomal 18S RNA sequence or EMA-1 gene and have showed to have high sensitivity and specificity (BALDANI et al, 2008;CACCIÒ et al, 2000;FRITZ, 2010;HEIM et al, 2007;NICOLAIEWSKY et al, 2001;RAMPERSAD et al, 2003). Therefore, this direct diagnostic method has now been incorporated to routine diagnosis, especially in association with serological assays.…”

PREVALENCE OFTHEILERIA EQUIANDBABESIA CABALLIAS WELL AS THE IDENTIFICATION OF ASSOCIATED TICKS IN SYMPATRIC GREVY'S ZEBRAS (EQUUS GREVYI) AND DONKEYS (EQUUS AFRICANUS ASINUS) IN NORTHERN KENYA

“…Investigators in Europe have found dogs to be carriers of T. equi and B. caballi, highlighting their potential role in the epidemiology of piroplasmosis, with implications for the control of outbreaks (Beck et al 2009;Fritz 2010). A study in France showed a 22% (31/139; 95% CI 16.1-30.0%) prevalence in dogs.…”