Abstract
Canine ehrlichiosis and babesiosis are the most prevalent tick-borne diseases in Brazilian dogs. Few studies have focused attention in surveying tick-borne diseases in the Brazilian Amazon region. A total of 129 blood samples were collected from dogs living in the Brazilian eastern Amazon. Seventy-two samples from dogs from rural areas of 19 municipalities and 57 samples from urban stray dogs from Santarém municipality were collected. Serum samples were submitted to Indirect Immunofluorescence Assay (IFA) with antigens of Babesia canis vogeli, Ehrlichia canis, and six Rickettsia species. The frequency of dogs containing anti-B. canis vogeli, anti-E. canis, and anti-Rickettsia spp. antibodies was 42.6%, 16.2%, and 31.7%, respectively. Anti-B. canis vogeli antibodies were detected in 59.6% of the urban dogs, and in 29.1% of the rural dogs (P < 0.05). For E. canis, seroprevalence was similar among urban (15.7%) and rural (16.6%) dogs. For Rickettsia spp., rural dogs presented significantly higher (P < 0.05) prevalence (40.3%) than urban animals (21.1%). This first study on tick-borne pathogens in dogs from the Brazilian eastern Amazon indicates that dogs are exposed to several agents, such as Babesia organisms, mostly in the urban area; Spotted Fever group Rickettsia organisms, mostly in the rural area; and Ehrlichia organisms, in dogs from both areas studied.
Highlights
Tick-borne diseases have been increasingly studied in Brazil, but there are still many unexplored places, especially in the Amazon region
Previous parasitological and serological studies carried out in Brazil have shown that canine babesiosis due to Babesia canis is distributed among different states with rates of seropositivity ranging from 1.9 to 66.9% in Minas Gerais (RIBEIRO et al, 1990; RODRIGUES et al, 2002; BASTOS et al, 2004; SOARES et al, 2006), 35.7% in Paraná (TRAPP et al, 2006), 5.2% in Rio de Janeiro (O’DWYER et al, 2001), and 10.3% in São Paulo (DELL’PORTO et al, 1993)
Antibodies against B. canis vogeli were detected in dogs from 10 different municipalities (Conceição do Araguaia, Itupiranga, Jacundá, Marabá, Redenção, Santa Maria das Barreiras, Santana do Araguaia, Santarém, São Felix do Xingu, and Tucumã)
Summary
Tick-borne diseases have been increasingly studied in Brazil, but there are still many unexplored places, especially in the Amazon region. Previous parasitological and serological studies carried out in Brazil have shown that canine babesiosis due to Babesia canis is distributed among different states with rates of seropositivity ranging from 1.9 to 66.9% in Minas Gerais (RIBEIRO et al, 1990; RODRIGUES et al, 2002; BASTOS et al, 2004; SOARES et al, 2006), 35.7% in Paraná (TRAPP et al, 2006), 5.2% in Rio de Janeiro (O’DWYER et al, 2001), and 10.3% in São Paulo (DELL’PORTO et al, 1993). A preliminary investigation for Ehrlichia species in the northern and southeastern regions of Brazil failed to detect Ehrlichia DNA in Amblyomma ticks, humans, dogs, capybaras, and febrile human blood samples (LABRUNA et al, 2007a). Ehrlichial DNA compatible with Ehrlichia chaffeensis, Ehrlichia ewingii, or an agent closely related to Ehrlichia ruminantium were recently reported in animal blood samples from southeastern Brazil (MACHADO et al, 2006; OLIVEIRA et al, 2009; WIDMER et al, 2011)
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