Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
First confirmed Lyme disease infection in a dog in Thailand
By Sthitmatee, Nattawooti et al.·Published in The Southeast Asian journal of tropical medicine and public health·2016·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: GENETIC AND IMMUNOLOGICAL EVIDENCES OF BORRELIA BURGDORFERI IN DOG IN THAILAND.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A dog in Thailand tested positive for Lyme disease, which is caused by the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi, after blood samples were collected from 402 dogs in the area. This was the first reported case of Lyme disease in Thailand, and the infected dog was found to have a genetic match to strains from the United States. Interestingly, no ticks were found on this dog, suggesting that further research is needed to understand how the disease is transmitted in this region. The findings highlight the potential risk of Lyme disease for both dogs and humans in Thailand.
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Abstract
Lyme disease is a tick-borne zoonotic disease caused by spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi. It is transmitted from animals to humans by the bite of infected ticks of the genus Ixodes. Although Lyme disease has been reported in China and Japan, the disease has never been reported in Thailand. Blood samples and ticks were collected from 402 dogs from 7 and 3 animal clinics in Chiang Mai and Phuket Provinces, Thailand, respectively. Blood samples were tested for antibodies against B. burgdorferi, Anaplasma spp, Ehrlichia spp and Dirofilaria immitis using a commercial kit, and positive blood samples were subjected to nested PCR assay for B. burgdorferi fla, ospA and ospC, amplicons of which also were sequenced. Only one dog (from Chiang Mai) was positive for B. burgdorferi, with 97% to 100% genetic identity, depending on the sequences used for comparison, with strains from United State of America. All 376 ticks collected were Rhipicephalus sanguineus, but no tick was found on the infected dog. Further investigations of the infection source and vector are needed to understand potential risks of Lyme disease to dogs and humans in Thailand.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27086427/