Епізоотологічний моніторинг бабезійної інвазії серед собак у Полтаві

Abstract

Babesiosis of dogs is a blood infestation disease caused by protozoa of Babesia genus. There are several causative agents of the disease, but in most cases, the etiological factor of dogs’ disease is Babesia canis. The disease is transmitted by ticks of Dermacentor and Ixodes genera. Pathogen is transmitted from the tick to the dog in the process of the tick’s eating the dog’s blood. The aim of the research was to study babesiosis epizootology of dogs in Poltava. As a result of epizootology monitoring of babesiosis for the 9-years period (2007 to 2016), seasonality was established, gender, age and pedigree dependency of incidence in dogs was defined. Statistic data of Poltava veterinary medicine institutions served as the study material. Diagnosis of babesiosis was determined based on the disease history, peculiar clinical symptoms and results of microscopic detection of Babesia in blood smears prepared from peripheral blood (ear vein) and Romanowsky-Hiemsa stained. Dog blood smear study was performed under the immersion system of 90 × 10 power light microscope. For the above mentioned period, 7866 cases of babesiosis in dogs have been recorded. Analysis of the data obtained shows that the said infestation has been recorded throughout the year, with winter cases being sporadic and their significant reduction being observed in hot summer months. In general, the distinct seasonal dynamics was defined with the two peak periods: April and September-October. Among the diseased dogs, males overwhelm females by 20%. The most susceptible to the disease are dogs aged from 2 to 3 years (11.1–16%), less – animals of 5–8 years of age (6.2–7.5%) and the least number of cases is recorded in dogs from 8 to 18 years of age (0.1–4.4%), i.e. a steady tendency is traced of susceptibility to babesiosis reducing with age. Concerning the breed ratio, the most susceptible are mongrel dogs (20.9%), German Shepherds (13.9%) and Rottweilers (7.5%). The prospect of further research is creation of the preventive measures strategy to minimize the incidence of babesiosis in dogs, on the basis of the obtained epizootic monitoring data. Finally, the 9-years study results present a scientific interest for parasitologists in human and veterinary medicine.