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Seroprevalences of Rickettsia conorii, Ehrlichia canis and Coxiella burnetii in Dogs from Montenegro

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A Correction to this article was published on 17 December 2019

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Abstract

Purpose

The incidence of vector-borne zoonoses has been increasing in Europe as a result of global climate change, and rickettsioses are a significant etiologic entity among these infections. The objective of this study was to investigate the seroprevalences of Rickettsia conorii, Ehrlichia canis and Coxiella burnetii in dogs in Montenegro.

Methods

The seroepidemiological study covered 259 dogs, of which 155 were owned dogs suspected of infection with agents of rickettsial aetiology from the continental (Podgorica) or five coastal municipalities of Montenegro (Budva, Herceg Novi, Kotor, Ulcinj and Bar), and 104 dogs were from a public shelter in Podgorica. The presence of specific IgG antibodies against R. conorii was analysed using a commercial indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test, and the presence of antibodies against E. canis and C. burnetii was analysed using commercial indirect immunofluorescence tests (IFAT).

Results

Seroprevalences of 73.36, 19.3 and 1.16% were determined for R. conorii, E. canis and C. burnetii, respectively. R. conorii was significantly more prevalent (χ2 = 14.53; p < 0.001) in owned dogs (81.93%) than in dogs from the public shelter (60.6%), while E. canis was more prevalent (χ2 = 12.31; p < 0.001) in dogs from the public shelter (29.81%) than in owned dogs (12.26%). Coinfection with two pathogens was determined in 40 (15.44%) dogs, and the prevalence of R. conorii/E. canis (χ2 = 4.23; p < 0.05) was greater in dogs from the public shelter (20.19%) than in owned dogs (10.97%).

Conclusion

The prevailing evidence from this study shows that dogs from Montenegro are exposed to pathogens of veterinary and public health importance. This calls for the One Health approach to sensitise the public on the risks of zoonoses from dogs and to formulate policies and strategies to mitigate their spread and safeguard public health.

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Change history

  • 17 December 2019

    Due to an unfortunate error during the processing of the article, the given name and family name of all authors were interchanged. The original article has been corrected.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to express our gratitude to all the veterinarians and the managers of the public dog shelter in Podgorica who provided dog blood samples for this study.

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. PI Diagnostic Veterinary Laboratory in Podgorica, Podgorica, Montenegro

    Dejan Laušević

  2. Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia

    Tamara Ilić

  3. Department of Animal Hygiene, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia

    Katarina Nenadović

  4. Department of Infectious Animal Diseases and Bee Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia

    Dragan Bacić & Sonja Obrenović

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  1. Dejan Laušević
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  2. Tamara Ilić
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Correspondence to Katarina Nenadović.

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The original version of this article was revised: Due to an unfortunate error during the processing of the article, the given name and family name of all authors were interchanged.

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Laušević, D., Ilić, T., Nenadović, K. et al. Seroprevalences of Rickettsia conorii, Ehrlichia canis and Coxiella burnetii in Dogs from Montenegro. Acta Parasit. 64, 769–778 (2019). https://doi.org/10.2478/s11686-019-00098-w

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