Autochthonous Babesia canis, Hepatozoon canis and imported Babesia gibsoni infection in dogs in the Czech Republic

Abstract

ABSTRACT:The epidemiology of tick-borne diseases as well as the ecology of the associated tick vectors is currently undergoing dynamic change. Canine babesiosis has, to date, only been reported in the Czech Republic as an imported disease, despite the presence of an established population of D. reticulatus in the South Moravian region. A recent report of autochthonous H. canis in dogs indicates that the spectrum of tick-borne diseases in dogs in the Czech Republic may be broader than previously expected and that a survey of a large set of dogs may be required. The aim of the present study was to survey the spectrum of tick-borne apicomplexan parasites infecting dogs in the Czech Republic and to assess the autochthonous character of detected infections. In the present study, we surveyed the spectrum of tick-borne protists in 418 dogs in the Czech Republic using PCR-based detection of the 18S rDNA gene of piroplasms and H. canis. We confirmed the presence of H. canis (4%), B. canis (1%, including the autochthonous cases) and a single imported case of B. gibsoni (0.2%) infection in sampled animals. Our results indicate that these pathogens deserve closer attention from veterinarian practitioners.

Babesiosis in Southeastern, Central and Northeastern Europe: An Emerging and Re-Emerging Tick-Borne Disease of Humans and Animals

“…South Moravia, in the southeastern region of the CR, has been known for over 50 years to be an endemic area for D. reticulatus [ 101 , 102 ], and ticks of this species were found in 2009–2010 in numerous localities in South Moravia [ 103 ]. However, the DNA of B. canis was identified in shelter dogs from this region of the country only in 2017, and the first clinical autochthonous case of B. canis was diagnosed in a non-traveling dog from this area one year later [ 104 , 105 ]. The most recent study of the distribution of D. reticulatus in the CR, based on a citizen science campaign of 2018–2021, revealed that D. reticulatus is actually present in all regions of the CR.…”

“…In 2017, B. gibsoni was confirmed by PCR-sequencing in an American pit bull terrier with clinical signs of acute babesiosis [ 104 ]. The dog originated from Slovakia, where B. gibsoni was reported for the first time in two pit bull terriers in 2013 [ 106 ].…”

Haemogregarines and Criteria for Identification

“…Therefore, molecular approaches are now available to distinguish populations of morphologically identical but genetically different parasites, including DNA and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based approaches [ 22 , 136 , 137 , 138 , 139 , 140 , 141 ]. Some studies based on PCR-based assays as the reference diagnostic test for epidemiological studies, which given their greater sensitivity, particularly for testing different hosts with intermittent levels of parasitemia via a low infection rate by gamonts, as Otranto et al [ 114 ], Haklová-Kočíková et al [ 18 ], Jòzsef et al [ 24 ], Ramos et al [ 116 ], and Mitkova et al [ 120 ]. Notably, all the molecular evidence comes from the complete and partial sequences of the small subunit (SSU) ribosomal DNA (rDNA) 18S gene is a sufficient phylogenetic marker to approximate ordinal level relationships and those within orders [ 68 , 98 , 119 , 142 , 143 , 144 , 145 ].…”

Molecular detection of <i>Babesia canis vogeli</i> and <i>Hepatozoon canis</i> in dogs in the department of Magdalena (Colombia)

“…Molecular detection of BaBesia canis vogeli and Hepatozoon canis in dogs in the department of Magdalena (Colombia) ily Ixodidae (A. ovale, R. microplus and R. sanguineus) have been found parasitizing dogs (Paternina et al 2009;de Miranda et al 2011), in addition to a report of A. cajennense s. l. on horses from the Tayrona National Natural Park (PNNT) (Santodomingo et al 2019). However, H. canis has also been reported in areas free of R. sanguineus (Mitkova et al 2017), which could be explained by the vertical transmission of H. canis reported by Murata et al (1993).…”