Abstract
Canine babesiosis is an important tick-borne disease caused by hemoprotozoan parasites of the genus Babesia, and the predominant species infecting dogs is Babesia gibsoni. The disease has been identified worldwide and is now recognized as a serious emergent disease in dogs. Although the incidence of canine babesiosis has been increasing, effective and crucial therapeutic modality is unavailable. The conventional antibabesial drugs including diminazene aceturate, pentamidine, and imidocarb dipropionate could not eliminate the parasites from infected dogs. Newer therapeutic modality for canine babesiosis using drugs such as clindamycin, atovaquone and multiple drug combinations has been suggested. Although these therapeutic modalities are beneficial and seem to partially provide a permanent cure, the treatments failures often occur. Thus, broad understanding of treatment protocols are required when implementing an appropriate treatment plan against canine babesiosis. The goal of this review is to provide veterinary practitioners with guidelines for successful treatment against canine babesiosis. It is expected that the review will answer the most frequently asked questions posed by veterinary practitioners.
Highlights
Canine babesiosis is an important tickborne disease caused by hemoprotozoan parasites of the genus Babesia, and the predominant species infecting dogs is Babesia gibsoni (Bandula et al.,2012a, 2012b, Yamasaki et al.,2002, 2003, 2007, 2011)
Many drugs have been utilized for the treatment of canine babesiosis, such as diminazene aceturate (Berenil), imidocarb dipropionate (Imizol), phenamidine isethionate, pentamidine isethionate, trypan blue, primaquone and quinuronium sulfate (Bandula et al.,2012a, 2012b, Birkenheuer et al.,2003, Matsuu et al.,2008, Sakuma et al.,2009); none of these drugs have been proven to be effective for the elimination of B. gibsoni organisms from infected dogs (Bandula et al.,2012a, 2012b, Bielawski et al.,2000)
The overall efficacy of combination of doxycyclineenrofloxacin-metronidazole in conjunction with and without administration of diminazene aceturate for B. gibsoni is 85.7% and 83.3%, respectively, with a mean recovery time of 24.2 and 23.5 days, respectively (Lin et al.,2010). This means concomitant use of intramuscular diminazene aceturate may not improve the efficacy of a doxycycline-enrofloxacin-metronidazole combination in management of canine babesiosis caused by B. gibsoni
Summary
SUMMARY: Canine babesiosis is an important tick-borne disease caused by hemoprotozoan parasites of the genus Babesia, and the predominant species infecting dogs is Babesia gibsoni. The incidence of canine babesiosis has been increasing, effective and crucial therapeutic modality is unavailable. The conventional antibabesial drugs including diminazene aceturate, pentamidine, and imidocarb dipropionate could not eliminate the parasites from infected dogs. Newer therapeutic modality for canine babesiosis using drugs such as clindamycin, atovaquone and multiple drug combinations has been suggested. These therapeutic modalities are beneficial and seem to partially provide a permanent cure, the treatments failures often occur. The goal of this review is to provide veterinary practitioners with guidelines for successful treatment against canine babesiosis. It is expected that the review will answer the most frequently asked questions posed by veterinary practitioners
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