Retrospective Longitudinal Survey on Canine Vector-Borne Pathogens: Trends and Challenges of 10 Years of Activities of a Veterinary Blood Bank

Abstract

Canine vector-borne pathogens (CVBPs) represent a challenge for veterinary transfusion medicine, since some can be transmitted by blood transfusion and are of zoonotic concern. Epidemiological data on CVBPs, obtained during 10 years of pre-donor screening (2012–2021) by a veterinary blood bank in central Italy, were used to conduct a retrospective epidemiological longitudinal survey. The results were obtained using the Immunofluorescent Antibody Test (IFAT) conducted on sera in order to assess IgG antibodies against Leishmania infantum, Ehrlichia canis, Anaplasma phagocythophilum, Babesia canis, and Rickettsia conorii; the modified Knott’s test and an ELISA kit were used to detect Dirofilaria immitis and Dirofilaria repens. In total, 324 out of the 1260 canine blood donors (25.71%) tested seropositive for at least one pathogen. The highest overall positive rate was detected for L. infantum (12.22%), followed by E. canis (2.30%), A. phagocytophilum (1.19%), D. repens (0.95%), D. immitis (0.32%), and B. canis (0.16%). From 2012 to 2014, a prevalence of 20.12% was recorded for R. conorii. Mixed infections were recorded in 21 dogs. For all the CVBPs investigated, significant differences (p < 0.05) were not observed over the period studied. The results evidenced a non-negligible prevalence of CVBPs in canine donors, which were selected based on strict criteria concerning regular endo- and ectoparasite controls. The results confirmed that the blood bank could be a reliable local epidemiological observatory. The need for implemented screening is discussed.

Detection of Anaplasma spp. and Ehrlichia spp. in dogs from a veterinary teaching hospital in Italy: a retrospective study 2012–2020

“…Furthermore, the progressive decrease in frequency of positivity detected could be linked to the increasing use of ectoparasiticides by dog-owners or to several factors which led to carrying out a greater number of tests for screening purposes, testing animals at risk of infection and not only those with associated clinical signs, therefore with a lower probability of testing positive: (i) the introduction into the diagnostic routine of a rapid and easy-to-use test such as the RIT (since 2015), which has also led to a reduction in the use of IFAT and PCR; (ii) the increasing sensitivity of veterinarians to these pathogens, given the increasing prevalence of the associated diseases; and (iii) the launch in 2017 of our veterinary blood bank (Veterinary Blood Solutions – VeBS) in the VTH with routine tests of blood donor dogs with low suspicion of infection. Consistently, Morganti and colleagues ( 2022 ) reported a lower prevalence of infection in potential blood donor dogs compared to a non-selected dog population.…”

Prevalence of subclinical infectious agents in a blood donor population tested on every donation

“…However, due to the significant clinical consequences of heartworm infection for the blood donor, the authors suggest that this infectious agent should be included in the infectious disease screening panel of potential blood donors in Portugal and Spain. In a recent study in a veterinary blood bank in central Italy, 25.71% of canine blood donors tested seropositive for at least one pathogen (Morganti et al ., 2022). In this study, similar to our results, the highest overall positive rate was detected for L. infantum (12.22%), followed by E. canis (2.30%), A. phagocytophilum (1.19%), D. repens (0.95%), D. immitis (0.32%) and B. canis (0.16%).…”