Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Babesia gibsoni infection found in symptomatic Romanian dogs by breed
By Imre, Mirela et al.·Published in Ticks and tick-borne diseases·2013·Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Survey of babesiosis in symptomatic dogs from Romania: occurrence of Babesia gibsoni associated with breed.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 49 dogs in Romania showing symptoms like fever and weakness were tested for a blood infection called babesiosis, caused by parasites. The tests found that 14 of these dogs had Babesia gibsoni, a type of parasite often seen in fighting breeds like American Pit Bull Terriers and American Staffordshire Terriers. The study confirmed the presence of this parasite using advanced genetic testing methods. This is the first report of Babesia gibsoni being identified in Romania, highlighting the importance of testing for this infection in symptomatic dogs, especially those from certain breeds.
People also search for: dog fever symptoms · Babesia gibsoni in dogs · American Pit Bull Terrier blood infection · dog weakness treatment
Abstract
Blood samples from 49 symptomatic dogs from 5 western and north-western counties of Romania were screened using microscopic examination, polymerase-chain-reaction-restriction-fragment-length-polymorphism procedure (PCR-RFLP), and sequence analysis. Results of the microscopic evaluation of stained blood smears revealed 45 positive samples with the presence of large and small intraerythrocytic piroplasms in 35 and 10 samples, respectively. Babesia canis (35/49, 71.4%) and Babesia gibsoni (14/49, 28.6%) were identified and differentiated by PCR-RFLP targeting the 18S rRNA gene. Results of the sequence analysis of all B. gibsoni and 17 randomly selected B. canis PCR products confirmed the PCR-RFLP-diagnosed species. The distribution of B. gibsoni infection was positively associated (p<0.001) with fighting dog breeds including infection in 12 American Pit Bull Terriers and one American Staffordshire Terrier. This report is the first to present molecular evidence of the occurrence of B. gibsoni in Romania confirmed by sequencing.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23994336/