Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Tick-borne infections found in dogs with Leishmania in Brazil
By de Sousa, Keyla Carstens Marques et al.·Published in Revista brasileira de parasitologia veterinaria = Brazilian journal of veterinary parasitology : Orgao Oficial do Colegio Brasileiro de Parasitologia Veterinaria·2013·Faculdade de Ciê·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Molecular and serological detection of tick-borne pathogens in dogs from an area endemic for Leishmania infantum in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs in Brazil that tested positive for Leishmania (a parasite that causes disease) were also found to have multiple tick-borne infections. Out of 60 dogs, many showed signs of exposure to pathogens like Ehrlichia canis, Anaplasma platys, and Babesia vogeli. The study revealed that 100% of the dogs had antibodies for Leishmania, while a significant number also tested positive for the other infections. This suggests that if your dog has leishmaniasis, it might also be suffering from these tick-borne diseases, which should be considered during diagnosis and treatment.
People also search for: dog leishmaniasis symptoms · tick-borne disease in dogs · Ehrlichia treatment for dogs
Abstract
Tick-borne pathogens affect a wide range of vertebrate hosts. To identify tick-borne pathogens among dogs from Campo Grande, MS, Brazil testing seropositive for Leishmania infantum (syn. L. chagasi), a serological and molecular study was conducted to detect Ehrlichia canis, Anaplasma platys and Babesia vogeli in 60 serum and spleen samples. A confirmatory diagnosis of L. infantum based on serological and molecular assays was also performed, as was sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis to assess the identity of the parasite species infecting these animals. IgG antibodies to Ehrlichia spp., B. vogeli and L. infantum were found, respectively, in 39 (65%), 49 (81.6%) and 60 (100%) of the sampled dogs. Twenty-seven (45%), fifty-four (90%), fifty-three (88.3%), two (3.3%) and one (1.6%) dog were positive, respectively, for E. canis, Leishmania spp., Leishmania donovani complex, Babesia sp. and Anaplasma sp. in PCR assays. After sequencing, the amplicons showed 99% of identity with E. canis, B. vogeli, A. platys and Leishmania chagasi isolates. The findings of this study indicate that L. infantum-seropositive dogs from Campo Grande are exposed to multiple tick-borne pathogens, which should therefore be included in the differential diagnosis of dogs with clinical suspicion of leishmaniasis.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24473877/