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Prevalence of Babesia spp. and clinical characteristics of Babesia vulpes infections in North American dogs.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Babesiosis is an important cause of thrombocytopenia and hemolytic anemia in dogs. Babesia vulpes, reported in European dogs and North American foxes, rarely has been reported in domestic North American dogs. Newly optimized polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primers facilitate more sensitive amplification of B. vulpes DNA. OBJECTIVES:To determine the prevalence of Babesia sp. infections in dogs being tested for Babesia infection, and to describe co-infections and clinicopathologic abnormalities in B. vulpes positive dogs. ANIMALS:Dog blood or tissue samples (n = 9367) submitted to a diagnostic laboratory between June 2015 and June 2018 were tested using an optimized Babesia PCR assay. METHODS:Comprehensive canine vector-borne disease diagnostic testing was performed on convenience samples. RESULTS:Babesia sp. DNA was amplified from 269/9367 (2.9%) North American dogs. Babesia sp. infections included B. gibsoni monoinfection (157; 1.7%), B. vulpes monoinfection (19; 0.20%), and B. gibsoni and B. vulpes coinfection (29; 0.31%). Forty-three of the 48 total B. vulpes-infected dogs were American Pit Bull Terrier-type breeds, of which 36 historically were involved with dog fights. Coinfections with Mycoplasma, Dirofilaria immitis, or Wolbachia and coexposures to Bartonella, Ehrlichia, and Rickettsia spp. were documented in B. vulpes-infected dogs. Clinicopathologic data in B. vulpes-infected dogs both with and without coinfections included anemia, thrombocytopenia, hyperglobulinemia, hypoalbuminemia, and proteinuria. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE:Babesia vulpes infection in domestic North American dogs is commonly found in conjunction with other coinfections, including B. gibsoni and hemotropic Mycoplasma. Similar to B. gibsoni, dog-to-dog transmission of B. vulpes may be a frequent mode of transmission.

SUBMITTER: Barash NR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6766513 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Prevalence of Babesia spp. and clinical characteristics of Babesia vulpes infections in North American dogs.

Barash Nanelle R NR Thomas Brittany B Birkenheuer Adam J AJ Breitschwerdt Edward B EB Lemler Erica E Qurollo Barbara A BA

Journal of veterinary internal medicine 20190723 5

<h4>Background</h4>Babesiosis is an important cause of thrombocytopenia and hemolytic anemia in dogs. Babesia vulpes, reported in European dogs and North American foxes, rarely has been reported in domestic North American dogs. Newly optimized polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primers facilitate more sensitive amplification of B. vulpes DNA.<h4>Objectives</h4>To determine the prevalence of Babesia sp. infections in dogs being tested for Babesia infection, and to describe co-infections and clinicop ...[more]

PMID: 31334887

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Canine babesiosis is a severe disease caused by several Babesia spp. A number of names have been proposed for the canine-infecting piroplasmid pathogen initially named Theileria annae Zahler, Rinder, Schein & Gothe, 2000. It was shown to be a member of the Babesia (sensu lato) group infecting carnivores and is also closely related to the Babesia microti group. Subsequently, the same parasite species was reclassified as a member of the genus Babesia and the name Babesia vulpes Baneth, Florin-Christensen, Cardoso & Schnittger, 2015 was proposed for it. However, both names do not meet the requirements of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (no accompanying descriptions, no deposition of type-specimens) and cannot be recognized as available names from the nomenclatural point of view. The purpose of this study was to further characterize this parasite in order to confirm its validity, to provide its description and to introduce zoological nomenclature for it with the name Babesia vulpes n. sp. RESULTS:Morphological description of the parasite in canine erythrocytes demonstrated that it takes the shape of small (1.33?×?0.98 µm), round to oval forms reminiscent of the pyriform and ring shapes of other small canine Babesia spp., such as Babesia gibsoni Patton, 1910 and Babesia conradae Kjemtrup, Wainwright, Miller, Penzhorn & Carreno, 2006. However, these parasite forms were overall smaller than those measured for the latter two species and no tetrad (Maltese cross) form was reported. Furthermore, phylogenetic analysis using the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COX1) amino acid sequences substantiates the species identity of this parasite as previously demonstrated based on phylogenetic analysis of the 18S rRNA and ?-tubulin genes. The holotype of the parasite species was designated and deposited in an accessible public collection. CONCLUSIONS:This study ratifies the name Babesia vulpes n. sp. proposed for the parasite previously referred to as Theileria annae Zahler, Rinder, Schein & Gothe, 2000, Babesia annae (Zahler, Rinder, Schein & Gothe, 2000) or Babesia vulpes Baneth, Florin-Christensen, Cardoso & Schnittger, 2015, or mentioned as "Babesia microti-like piroplasm", "Babesia Spanish dog isolate" and Babesia cf. microti.

Project description:Angiostrongylus vasorum, Crenosoma vulpis and Eucoleus aerophilus are a source of increasing concern, potentially causing significant pulmonary and severe cardiac/systemic diseases in domestic dogs and wild canids, especially red foxes (Vulpes vulpes). To investigate the prevalence and geographical distribution of these parasites in central Germany, a total of 569 foxes were examined by dissection.Pluck (heart and lung) and faecal samples of red foxes were collected from three regions of Germany. Lungs, hearts and adjacent vessels were processed for adult nematode detection. Parasitological diagnoses of faecal samples were performed by SAF technique, Giardia- and Cryptosporidium-Coproantigen-ELISAs and by a duplex copro-PCR for the detection of A. vasorum and C. vulpis DNA.Foxes originated from three Federal States of central Germany: Thuringia (n?=?359); Rhineland-Palatinate (n?=?121) and Hesse (n?=?89). High prevalences for all three nematodes were detected, with E. aerophilus (69.4%; 395/569), followed by C. vulpis (32.3%; 184/569) and A. vasorum (14.1%; 80/569). In case of A. vasorum, prevalences varied significantly between Federal States, with the highest prevalence of 27.3% in Rhineland-Palatinate, followed by 19.1% and 8.4% in Hesse and Thuringia, respectively. The presence of A. vasorum in fox populations showed a rather patchy distribution, increasing from north-eastern to south-western regions. Analyses on C. vulpis revealed prevalences of 35.1%, 30.3% and 25.6% (Thuringia, Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate, respectively). The most prevalent lungworm nematode was E. aerophilus, with a prevalence of 75.2%, 71.9% and 66.9% (Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and Thuringia, respectively) and an almost area-wide equal distribution. Significant differences for single parasite prevalences within geographical regions of the Federal States could be detected whilst no correlation between age or gender and parasite occurrence was estimated. Weak seasonality for the winter months for A. vasorum, stronger correlation to spring and late summer for C. vulpis and no correlation to any season for E. aerophilus were detected. The method of dissection revealed a significantly higher sensitivity for C. vulpis when compared with the results of the duplex copro-PCR.A sylvatic cycle was confirmed for all three lungworm nematodes in the examined area. The prevalences for all three lungworm nematodes are some of the highest recorded so far in German foxes. The data suggest that A. vasorum might be spreading from south-western to north-eastern parts of Germany.

Dataset Information

Prevalence of Babesia spp. and clinical characteristics of Babesia vulpes infections in North American dogs.

Publications

Prevalence of Babesia spp. and clinical characteristics of Babesia vulpes infections in North American dogs.

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