RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Although many vector-borne diseases are important causes of morbidity and mortality in dogs in tropical areas and potential zoonoses, there is little information on these conditions in Central America. METHODS: Seven qPCRs for vector-borne pathogens were performed on a Roche LightCycler PCR Instrument to investigate their prevalence in a convenience sample of whole blood samples from apparently healthy dogs in Nicaragua. Also, a qPCR targeting the canine hydroxymethylbilane synthase (HMBS) gene was used as an endogenous internal control and verified the quality and quantity of DNA in the samples was appropriate for the study. RESULTS: We found DNA of Rickettsia felis (5%), Babesia spp. (26%), Hepatozoon canis (51%), Anaplasma platys (13%) and Ehrlichia canis (56%) in the 39 dogs studied. The qPCRs for Coxiella burnetii and Dirofilaria immitis were negative. Of the 30 (80%) dogs that were positive by qPCR, 12 (31%) were positive for one agent, 11 (28%) for two, 3 (8%) for three, and 4 (10%) for four agents. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first report of B. gibsoni in dogs from Central America and the first recording of vector-borne agents in dogs from Nicaragua. Dogs in Nicaragua are commonly infected with a variety of vector-borne pathogens, some of which may also infect people.
Assuntos
Babesia/isolamento & purificação , Babesiose/epidemiologia , DNA de Protozoário/sangue , Doenças do Cão/epidemiologia , Anaplasma/genética , Anaplasma/isolamento & purificação , Animais , Babesia/genética , Babesiose/parasitologia , Doenças do Cão/parasitologia , Cães , Ehrlichia/genética , Ehrlichia/isolamento & purificação , Eucoccidiida/genética , Eucoccidiida/isolamento & purificação , Dosagem de Genes , Hidroximetilbilano Sintase/genética , Nicarágua/epidemiologia , Reação em Cadeia da Polimerase/veterinária , Prevalência , Proteínas de Protozoários/genética , Rickettsia/genética , Rickettsia/isolamento & purificaçãoRESUMO
Although vector-borne diseases are important causes of morbidity and mortality in dogs in tropical areas, there is little information on these conditions in Costa Rica. In PCRs of blood from dogs in Costa Rica, we did not detect DNAs of Rickettsia (R.) felis and Coxiella (C.) burnetii but we did find evidence of infection with Dirofilaria (D.) immitis (9/40, 22.5%), Hepatozoon (H.) canis (15/40, 37.5%), Babesia spp. (10/40, 25%; 2 with B. gibsoni and 8 with B. vogeli), Anaplasma (A.) platys (3/40, 7.5%) and Ehrlichia (E.) canis (20/40, 50%). Nine dogs (22.5%) were free of any vector-borne pathogens while 14 (35%) were infected with a single pathogen, 11 (27.5%) with two, 4 (10%) with three, 1 (2.5%) with four, and 1 (2.5%) with five pathogens. Dogs in Costa Rica are commonly infected with vector-borne agents.