Analysis of risk factors and prevalence of haemoplasma infection in dogs

Abstract

Mycoplasma haemocanis (Mhc) and 'Candidatus Mycoplasma haematoparvum' (CMhp) are canine haemoplasma species that can induce anaemia in immunocompromised and/or splenectomised dogs. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and phylogeny of canine haemoplasma species in dogs from Nigeria and describe any risk factors for infection. Canine haemoplasma species-specific and generic haemoplasma qPCR assays were used. The species-specific qPCR assays found Mhc infection in 18 of 245 dogs (7.3%), and CMhp infection in only one dog (0.4%). The generic haemoplasma qPCR assays were positive in 44 of 245 (17.9%) dogs. Twenty-five dogs had discordant qPCR results in that they were generic haemoplasma qPCR positive but species-specific qPCR negative. Further evaluation of these dogs by 16S rDNA sequencing gave limited results but 5 were confirmed to be infected with non-haemoplasma species: 2 Anaplasma phagocytophilum, 1 Anaplasma ovis, 1 Serratia marcescens and 1 Aerococcus spp. The 16S rRNA gene sequences from Mhc species showed>99.8% identity with each other and>99.6% identity with GenBank sequences, and resided in a single clade with other global Mhc and Mycoplasma haemofelis sequences, indicating low 16S rRNA genetic variability amongst this canine haemoplasma species.

Kırgızistan’da Asemptomatik Barınak Köpeklerinde Mycoplasma haemocanis ve Candidatus Mycoplasma haematoparvum İçin İlk Moleküler Kanıt

“…In the present study Mhc has higher molecular prevalence than CMhp and this result is in accordance with previous publications [5,9] . Three dogs (1.76%) were found to be infected for both Mhc and CMhp.…”

“…Mhc, CMhp and Mhc + CMhp prevalences were 2.94% (CI 1.06-6.22), 0.59% (CI 0.03-2.57) and 1.76% (CI 0.44-4.52) respectively with this study. Low prevalence of hemoplasmas determined with this study was similar to data from Italy 4.5% [10] and Nigeria with 7.7% [5] . While higher prevalences were reported in Portugal 40% [2] , Iran 23% [9] and Turkey 15.3% [4] ; low prevalence was from USA 1.3% [3] .…”

“…In several studies worldwide, Mycoplasma infections have been found in stray, wild and pet dogs in Turkey [4] , Nigeria [5] , United States [3] , Brazil [6] , Thailand [7] , Iran [8,9] , Italy [10] , Spain, Portugal, Switzerland and France [2] .…”

Frequency of Mycoplasma haemocanis infection in dogs of Cuiaba, Mato Grosso, Brazil

“…No dog had a history of splenectomy. In a previous study, Aquino et al (2016) did not identify any significant age or breed predisposition despite detecting M. haemocanis infection more in males (differing from that observed in this study).…”

“…However, the infection rate in this study was higher than the observed prevalence of M. haemocanis (1.9%) and Candidatus M. haematoparvum (0.6%) in 154 dogs from Ribeirão Preto (ALVES et al, 2014). The difference between the prevalences may vary according to the population sampled, the distribution of R. sanguineus (a probable vector), or the sensitivity of the diagnostic technique employed (AQUINO et al, 2016). Table 1 shows factors investigated for association with M. haemocanis infection.…”