Vector-Borne Pathogens in Stray Dogs in Northeastern Turkey

Abstract

This experiment was carried out to attain prevalence and molecular characterization of pathogens causing canine vector-borne diseases (CVBDs) including babesiosis, hepatozoonosis, leishmaniasis, filariosis (Dirofilaria immitis, Dirofilaria repens, and Acanthocheilonema reconditum), ehrlichiosis (Ehrlichia canis), and anaplasmosis (Anaplasma platys) in stray dogs. The study material consisted of 133 asymptomatic female (n = 96) and male (n = 37) stray dogs (≤1 year old, n = 16 and 1-6 years old, n = 117) housed in the Animal Care and Rehabilitation Center, Erzurum, Northeastern Turkey. Conventional and nested PCR were performed on blood samples to detect Babesia spp., Leishmania spp., Hepatozoon spp., D. immitis, D. repens, A. reconditum, E. canis, and A. platys. Sex and age association with the pathogen prevalence was determined using X statistics. The positivity rate for at least one CVBD pathogen was 48.9% (65/133). DNA of B. canis, Hepatozoon spp., H. canis, D. immitis, and E. canis were detected in 5.3% (7/133), 27.1% (36/133), 5.3% (7/133), 1.5% (2/133), and 9.8% (13/133) of the dogs, respectively. Leishmania spp., D. repens, A. reconditum, and A. platys DNA were not detected. Mixed pathogens were determined in seven (10.8%) of the infected dogs, with predominant involvement of Hepatozoon spp. or H. canis. The pathogen prevalence did not vary by sex or age. Nucleotide blast analysis of Erzurum isolates showed 99.8-100% identities with the corresponding reference isolates. This study indicates presence of five CVB pathogens, including the first report of E. canis, in stray dogs in Erzurum, Turkey.

İç Anadolu Bölgesindeki Sokak Köpeklerinde Kene-Kaynaklı Kan Protozoonları Varlığının Araştırılması ve Yüksek Orandaki Hepatozoon Enfeksiyonunun Moleküler Karakterizasyonu

“…by PCR. Seven of the positive samples were sequenced and were all confirmed as H. canis [16] . In Kayseri Province, 21 (5.3%) of 400 dogs were reported as positive for H. canis by real-time PCR [13] .…”

“…Published studies of babesiosis in Turkey have identified B. canis [11][12][13][14][15][16] , B. vogeli [13,15,[17][18][19] , B. gibsoni [20] , and an unnamed Babesia spp. [15] in dogs.…”

“…in Turkey show that the disease was first reported in a dog in 1933 [23] . Subsequently, the presence of H. canis was determined morphologically [24][25][26][27][28][29] , molecularly [9,13,15,16,19,25,26,[28][29][30] , and serologically [26] in dogs. Hepatozoon spp.…”

A Retrospective Epidemiological Study: The Prevalence of Ehrlichia canis and Babesia vogeli in Dogs in the Aegean Region of Turkey

“…Occurrence of concurrent infections together with Babesia spp. and E. canis or with other haemoparasites results in a more complex situation [16][17][18].…”

“…A number of studies on canine babesiosis and monocytic erhlichiosis have been performed in Turkey. To date, two large Babesia species, namely B. canis and B. vogeli and one small Babesia species, B. gibsoni have been identifi ed in dogs [16,17,[19][20][21][22][23]. Canine monocytic erhlichiosis caused by E. canis was also reported in Turkey [16,17,24,25].…”