Ticks, sera and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) blood were collected from dogs evaluated at the Amakom Veterinary Clinic in Kumasi, Ghana. Sera were evaluated for Dirofilaria immitis antigen and antibodies against Borrelia burgdorferi, Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Ehrlichia canis. Conventional polymerase chain reaction assays designed to amplify the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) of Ehrlic...

BACKGROUND Only limited information is currently available on the prevalence of vector borne and zoonotic pathogens in dogs and ticks in Nigeria. The aim of this study was to use molecular techniques to detect and characterize vector borne pathogens in dogs and ticks from Nigeria. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Blood samples and ticks (Rhipicephalus sanguineus, Rhipicephalus turanicus and Hea...

The present report describes a fatal case of non-experimental babesiosis in a splenctomized 3-year-old fox terrier. A very intense parasitaemia including clusters of up to 16 Babesiae and a prominent haemophagocytic activity were the most relevant findings. A marked leukocytosis, thrombocytopenia and regenerative anaemia were observed. Despite prompt treatment with babesiacidal compounds the co...

Giemsa-stained, peripheral blood smears of 67 dogs, showing clinical signs typical of babesiosis or reminiscent of concurrent babesiosis and ehrlichiosis, were examined for the presence of Babesia canis and Ehrlichia canis. Since Cowdria ruminantium cross-reacts with Ehrlichia, the sera of these dogs were also subjected to the indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA) test in which C. ruminantium was...

In contrast to the large body of literature regarding Bartonella henselae in humans and cats, there is little information about B. henselae as an infectious agent in dogs. Due to the paucity of information regarding the B. henselae serology in dogs, we performed a cross-sectional serosurvey using B. henselae antigen in order to compare the seroprevalence between sick and healthy dogs from the s...

Canine babesiosis has recently been recognized as an emerging infectious disease of dogs in North America. We sought to develop a seminested PCR to detect and differentiate Babesia gibsoni (Asian genotype), B. canis subsp. vogeli, B. canis subsp. canis, and B. canis subsp. rossi DNA in canine blood samples. An outer primer pair was designed to amplify an approximately 340-bp fragment of the 18S...

Babesiosis is a hemolytic disease caused by protozoans of the genus Babesia (Apicomplexa). This disease occurs worldwide and is transmitted by ticks to a variety of mammals, including humans. The objective of the present study was to optimize a molecular approach for the detection of a fragment of 18S rDNA of Babesia canis, Babesia vogeli, Babesia rossi or Babesia gibsoni based on a single semi...