Abstract
BackgroundAlthough tick-borne diseases are important causes of morbidity and mortality in dogs in tropical areas, there is little information on the agents causing these infections in the Caribbean.MethodologyWe used PCRs to test blood from a cross-section of dogs on St Kitts for Ehrlichia (E.) canis, Babesia (B.) spp., Anaplasma (A.) spp. and Hepatozoon (H.) spp. Antibodies against E. canis and A. phagocytophilum/platys were detected using commercial immunochromatography tests. Records of the dogs were examined retrospectively to obtain clinical and laboratory data.Principal findingsThere was serological and/or PCR evidence of infections of dogs with E. canis (27%; 46/170), Babesia spp. (24%; 90/372) including B. canis vogeli (12%; 43/372) and B. gibsoni (10%; 36/372), A. platys (11%; 17/157) and H. canis (6%; 15/266). We could not identify the Babesia sp. detected in nine dogs. There was evidence of multiple infections with dual infections with E. canis and B. canis vogeli (8%; 14/179) or B. gibsoni (7%; 11/170) being the most common. There was agreement between immunochromatography and PCR test results for E. canis for 87% of dogs. Only 13% of exposed dogs had signs of a tick-borne disease and 38% had laboratory abnormalities. All 10 dogs presenting for a recheck after treatment of E. canis with doxycycline were apparently healthy although all remained seropositive and six still had laboratory abnormalities despite an average of two treatments with the most recent being around 12 months previously. Infections with Babesia spp. were also mainly subclinical with only 6% (4/67) showing clinical signs and 13% (9/67) having laboratory abnormalities. Similarly, animals with evidence of infections with A. platys and H. canis were largely apparently healthy with only occasional laboratory abnormalities.ConclusionsDogs are commonly infected with tick-borne pathogens in the Caribbean with most having no clinical signs or laboratory abnormalities.
Highlights
Tick-borne diseases are an important cause of morbidity and mortality in dogs worldwide with the brown dog tick, Rhipicephalus (R.) sanguineus, implicated as a vector of several disease agents including A. platys, B. canis vogeli, B. gibsoni, E. canis, spotted fever group (SFG) Rickettsia spp. and H. canis [1], [2], [3], [4]
A PCR study on 73 dogs from Grenada showed them to be infected with A. platys (19%), B. canis (7%), Bartonella spp. (1%), E. canis (25%) and H. canis (7%) [11] while a study on 348 dogs from Trinidad showed dogs infected with E. canis (14%) and B. canis vogeli (7%) [12]
Samples Collected and Tests Performed Blood samples were obtained from a total of 372 dogs, comprising 93 that presented to Volunteers for Intercultural and Definitive Adventure (VIDA) clinics and 279 that were seen at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital (VTH)
Summary
Tick-borne diseases are an important cause of morbidity and mortality in dogs worldwide with the brown dog tick, Rhipicephalus (R.) sanguineus, implicated as a vector of several disease agents including A. platys, B. canis vogeli, B. gibsoni, E. canis, spotted fever group (SFG) Rickettsia spp. and H. canis [1], [2], [3], [4]. In early PCR studies, no DNA of SFG rickettsia was found in R. sanguineus, the most common tick of dogs in the Caribbean, from the islands of St Kitts (n = 52) [8] and Martinique (n = 11) [9]. A PCR study on 73 dogs from Grenada showed them to be infected with A. platys (19%), B. canis (7%), Bartonella spp. Tick-borne diseases are important causes of morbidity and mortality in dogs in tropical areas, there is little information on the agents causing these infections in the Caribbean
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