Haemoparasites of free-roaming dogs associated with several remote Aboriginal communities in Australia

Abstract

BackgroundTick-borne haemoparasites Babesia vogeli and Anaplasma platys are common among the free-roaming canine populations associated with Aboriginal communities in Australia, whilst the prevalence of haemoplasmas, which are also suspected to be tick-borne, remained unexplored. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of haemoplasma infection in these populations, and to identify any correlation with other haemoparasites. Blood was collected from 39 dogs associated with four Aboriginal communities and screened for infection using PCR and serology. DNA was purified and PCR analyses for piroplasms, Anaplasmataceae family bacteria and haemoplasmas performed. Serum was analysed using a commercial haemoparasite ELISA. Prevalence of infection was compared between communities.ResultsSeventeen dogs (44%) were infected (PCR positive) with Mycoplasma haemocanis, eight (21%) with ‘Candidatus Mycoplasma haematoparvum’, 20 (51%) with A. platys, and 17 (44%) with B. vogeli. Two dogs were infected with a novel haemoplasma as determined by DNA amplification and sequencing. Two dogs (5%) were serologically positive for Dirofilaria immitis antigens, one (3%) was positive for Ehrlichia canis antibodies and nine (24nbsp;%) were positive for A. platys antibodies. Co-infections were frequent. Haemoplasma prevalence was highest (73%, 16/22) in Central Australia and lowest (22%, 2/9) in Western Australia (p = 0.017). In contrast, B. vogeli prevalence was low in Central Australia (18%, 4/22) but higher (78%, 7/9) in Western Australia (p = 0.003).ConclusionsThis is the first time haemoplasma infections, including a novel species, have been molecularly documented in Australian dogs. The wide regional variation in prevalence of some of the haemoparasite infections detected in this study warrants further investigation.

Infection with Hemotropic Mycoplasma Species in Patients with or without Extensive Arthropod or Animal Contact

“…"Candidatus Mycoplasma haematoparvum" was originally detected and characterized in the blood of a splenectomized dog from the United States with hemic neoplasia (27). Subsequently, the same "Candidatus" species was found in other dogs in the United States (27) and in canids from Brazil (28), Europe (8,(29)(30)(31)(32), and Australia (33)(34)(35). Although ticks, in particular Rhipicephalus sanguineus (the brown dog tick), have been suggested as vectors for canine hemotropic mycoplasma transmission, there are no experimental data to support vector competence by any tick species (8,28,30,32,33,35,36).…”

Roaming behaviour and home range estimation of domestic dogs in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in northern Australia using four different methods

“…However, roaming behaviour data for dogs in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in northern Australia are lacking. These populations pose a risk for the spread of existing infectious diseases, including zoonoses (Barker et al, 2012;Brown et al, 2006;Hii et al, 2012;Meloni et al, 1993;Walton et al, 1999), but also potentially for exotic diseases if an incursion in northern Australia occurs.…”

Prevalence, Genotype Richness, and Coinfection Patterns of Hemotropic Mycoplasmas in Raccoons (Procyon lotor) on Environmentally Protected and Urbanized Barrier Islands

“…Based on our in silico PCR analysis (72) of these universal primers against the different mycoplasma 16S rRNA gene sequences available in the GenBank database, it was demonstrated that depending on the target Mycoplasma spp., these primers produce PCR fragments with sizes of 595 to 620 bp. In addition, these universal primers were successfully used for amplification of the partial 16S rRNA hemoplasma genes in a few published studies (73)(74)(75).…”