Molecular detection of haemophilic pathogens reveals evidence of Candidatus Mycoplasma haemobos in dogs and parasitic ticks in central China

Abstract

Background In addition to Mycoplasma haemocanis and Candidatus Mycoplasma haematoparvum, a few hemoplasma species that mainly infect other livestock have been detected in dogs. ‘Candidatus Mycoplasma haemobos’ (Ca. M. haemobos) has been found in a variety of animals in China. The present study was aimed to investigate the occurrence of ‘Ca. M. haemobos’ infections in dogs and ticks collected from the Henan province, China. Results Overall, 55 dog blood samples and 378 ticks on skins were collected from anemic and healthy dogs, and these samples were subjected to PCR, sequence analysis, and identification. The results showed that Haemaphysalis longicornis (266) and Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus (112) were the only two parasitic ticks on dogs. Molecular detection revealed that 163 M. haemocanis, 88 ‘Ca. M. haemobos’ and 32 Anaplasma platys positive amplicons could be amplified from dogs, H. longicornis and R. (B.) microplus. In addition, co-infections (M. haemocanis + A. platys and ‘Ca. M. haemobos’+ A. platys) could be also detected. Conclusions To the best of our knowledge, this is the first molecular evidence of ‘Ca. M. haemobos’ natural infection in dogs and tick species identified as H. longicornis and R. (B.) microplus from China.

Next-generation sequencing metabarcoding assays reveal diverse bacterial vector-borne pathogens of Mongolian dogs

“…However, all associations identified within our study should be interpreted with caution as our sample was not representative of the wider Mongolian dog population and further large-scale studies are required to ascertain associations. Shi et al (2022) also reported 11 out of 55 dogs from China also tested positive for “ Candidatus Mycoplasma haemobos”, a pathogen usually associated with ruminant livestock, but not identified in our study. This might be due to the fact that the suspected vector for this pathogen, Rhipicephalus microplus , has not been found in Mongolia to date ( Dash, 1969 ; Černý et al, 2019 ; Shi et al, 2019 ).…”

“…In neighbouring Russia, one study documented haemoplasma infection in 90% of stray dogs within a nature reserve ( Goncharuk et al, 2012 ). Shi et al (2022) reported that 19 out of 55 dogs sampled from a rural area in China tested positive for Mhc . The Mongolian dogs in our study had a higher proportion of infection compared to these dogs, most likely due to the suspected free-roaming habits and aggressive nature of the Mongolian dogs.…”

Molecular detection and identification of hemotropic Mycoplasma species in dogs and their ectoparasites in Iran

“…These bacteria are mostly known to cause varying degrees of hemolytic anemia but can also induce fever, apathy, adenopathy, motor incoordination, splenomegaly, anorexia, lethargy, jaundice, dehydration, weight loss, and sudden death 7,8 . Although hemoplasma infections are typically species-speci c, in addition to Mhc and CMhp, M. ovis 9 and M. suis 10 , Candidatus M. haemobos 11 , Candidatus M. haemominutum 12 and M. turicense 13 have been detected in dogs. Importantly, infections with CMhp, M. ovis and M. suis which have been detected in dogs have been described in humans 3,14−16 .…”