Prevalence of haemoprotozoan parasites of dogs presented at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, University of Jos - Nigeria

Abstract

Haemoprotozoan parasites have been a major health challenge in animals and are known to affect the blood vascular system resulting in various diseases. The present study investigated the prevalence of haemoprotozoan parasites in dogs at the veterinary teaching hospital, university of Jos, and the risk factors associated with their occurrence. One hundred ninety dogs were sampled at the University of Jos, Veterinary Teaching Hospital (VTH) within three months (May 2021-July, 2021) and Giemsa stained blood smears including Buffy coat, thin and thin and thick blood smears, were observed. The dogs screened were more females than males between ages <1, 1-3, and >3 years. Russian Shepherd breed of dogs were mostly presented as compared to other breeds. A total of 103 dogs were discovered to be infected with haemoprotozoan parasites and had a prevalence of 54.21%. Haemoprotozoan parasites discovered from this study include Babesia spp., Ehrlichia spp., and Mycoplasma spp. (Haemobartonella canis), with prevalence of 22.11%, 11.05%, 6.32% respectively. Some of the dogs sampled were discovered to have mixed haermoprotozoan parasitic infections, and a prevalence of 14.74% was calculated. Haemoprotozoan parasites were also discovered to be more prevalent in female dogs, with a value of 54.47%, in the Bull mastiff breed of dogs, with a value of 66.7%, and in age range > 3 years, had a value of 30.7%. The various risk factors, including age, sex, and breed, were measured using the Chi-square test and revealed age to be statistically significant (P < 0.05). In contrast, sex and breed were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). The result from this study showed that haemoprotozoan parasites are detectable among dogs presented to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital (VTH) university of Jos and hence, the need to raise awareness on the prevention and control of haemoprotozoan parasitic infections in dogs due to possible threat to animal and human health in the study area.