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Ticks and associated pathogens in dogs from Greece
- Source :
- Parasites & Vectors, Vol 10, Iss 1, Pp 1-7 (2017), Parasites & Vectors
- Publication Year :
- 2017
- Publisher :
- BMC, 2017.
-
Abstract
- Background With the aim to assess the occurrence of hard ticks and the pathogens they may carry in dogs from Greece, ixodid specimens (n = 757) were collected from 310 animals living in six provinces across the Greek peninsula. All ticks were morphologically identified, and genomic DNA was extracted from 344 (45.5%) representative specimens, according to their species, engorgement status and sampling area. The occurrence of Anaplasma spp., Ehrlichia spp., Hepatozoon spp., Rickettsia spp., Babesia spp., Theileria spp. and Cercopithifilaria spp. was assessed by conventional and quantitative real-time PCR. Results Overall, 150 dogs (48.4%) were infested by ticks, with Rhipicephalus sanguineus (sensu lato) being the most prevalent (70.1%), followed by Haemaphysalis parva (14.7%), Rhipicephalus turanicus (11.4%), and Haemaphysalis concinna (2.4%). Out of 344 specimens molecularly examined, 41 (11.1%) were positive for at least one microorganism (i.e. 5.5% for Cercopithifilaria bainae, 2.9% for Hepatozoon canis, 1.7% for Rickettsia hoogstraalii, 1.2% for Hepatozoon felis, 0.6% for Rickettsia massiliae, 0.6% for Theileria ovis, 0.3% for Anaplasma platys and 0.3% for Coxiella like-endosymbiont). Conclusions The results of this study show that different tick species parasitize dogs in Greece, carrying a range of microorganisms potentially pathogenic for dogs and humans. Consequently, control strategies against ticks are of great importance to prevent the risk of tick-borne diseases. The relationship between ticks infesting dogs and associated microorganisms is described according to collection site and dog lifestyle.
- Subjects :
- 0301 basic medicine
Anaplasma platys
Veterinary medicine
Haemaphysalis concinna
Anaplasma
Ixodidae
Rhipicephalus sanguineus
030231 tropical medicine
Ehrlichia
Tick
Polymerase Chain Reaction
lcsh:Infectious and parasitic diseases
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
Ticks
Dogs
Theileria
parasitic diseases
Rhipicephalus
Animals
Parasites
lcsh:RC109-216
TBDs
Rickettsia massiliae
Genome
Tick-borne pathogens
biology
Bacteria
Greece
Research
030108 mycology & parasitology
biology.organism_classification
bacterial infections and mycoses
Tick Infestations
Hepatozoon
qPCR
Infectious Diseases
PCR
Tick-Borne Diseases
Babesia
Parasitology
Female
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 17563305
- Volume :
- 10
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Parasites & Vectors
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....5d92f7a4e2118c2d1732d9f1cb11317f