Detection of Babesia annae DNA in lung exudate samples from Red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in Great Britain.

Clare Hamilton,Frank Katzer,Elisabeth A Innes,Paul M Bartley,Cari Wilson

doi:10.1186/s13071-016-1364-1

Abstract

BackgroundThis study aimed to determine the prevalence of Babesia species DNA in lung exudate samples collected from red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) from across Great Britain. Babesia are small piroplasmid parasites which are mainly transmitted through the bite of infected ticks of the family Ixodidae. Babesia can cause potentially fatal disease in a wide-range of mammalian species including humans, dogs and cattle, making them of significant economic importance to both the medical and veterinary fields.MethodsDNA was extracted from lung exudate samples of 316 foxes. A semi-nested PCR was used to initially screen samples, using universal Babesia-Theileria primers which target the 18S rRNA gene. A selection of positive PCR amplicons were purified and sequenced. Subsequently specific primers were designed to detect Babesia annae and used to screen all 316 DNA samples. Randomly selected positive samples were purified and sequenced (GenBank accession KT580786). Clones spanning a 1717 bp region of the 18S rRNA gene were generated from 2 positive samples, the resultant consensus sequence was submitted to GenBank (KT580785). Sequence KT580785 was used in the phylogenetic analysisResultsBabesia annae DNA was detected in the fox samples, in total 46/316 (14.6 %) of samples tested positive for the presence of Babesia annae DNA. The central region of England had the highest prevalence at 36.7 %, while no positive samples were found from Wales, though only 12 samples were tested from this region. Male foxes were found to have a higher prevalence of Babesia annae DNA than females in all regions of Britain. Phylogenetic and sequence analysis of the GenBank submissions (Accession numbers KT580785 and KT580786) showed 100 % identity to Babesia sp.-‘Spanish Dog’ (AY534602, EU583387 and AF188001).ConclusionsThis is the first time that Babesia annae DNA has been reported in red foxes in Great Britain with positive samples being found across England and Scotland indicating that this parasite is well established within the red fox population of Britain. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that though B. annae is closely related to B. microti it is a distinct species.

Highlights

This study aimed to determine the prevalence of Babesia species DNA in lung exudate samples collected from red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) from across Great Britain
This study aimed at determining the prevalence of piroplasm infection in red foxes and the species of piroplasm circulating in the red fox population in Great Britain, through the analysis of lung exudate samples
The results described in the current study clearly demonstrate that B. annae DNA is present widely in the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) population in Great Britain, with positive samples being found across all regions of England and throughout Scotland

Summary

Introduction

This study aimed to determine the prevalence of Babesia species DNA in lung exudate samples collected from red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) from across Great Britain. Babesia can cause potentially fatal disease in a wide-range of mammalian species including humans, dogs and cattle, making them of significant economic importance to both the medical and veterinary fields. More than 100 species of Babesia have been documented [3], Babesia parasites are capable of infecting a wide range of wild and domestic host species, including humans, cattle and dogs. This ability to infect and cause disease in many mammalian species make Babesia of great economic importance in both the medical and veterinary fields. Babesia annae is among these economically important species having been shown to cause severe (even fatal) disease in dogs [1, 2]

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