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Babesiosis caused by Babesia vogeli in dogs from Uberlândia State of Minas Gerais, Brazil

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Abstract

Babesia is tick-transmitted protozoan parasites that infect mammalian hosts and have a major impact on farm and pet health-associated costs worldwide. This study aimed to test the prevalence of Babesia spp. infection in a small cohort of dogs at a veterinary hospital and to perform molecular characterization of the Babesia species causing the infection. For the PCR assay, 5 mL of blood was collected by venipuncture of the cephalic or radial veins in 300 dogs of different ages, sex, and breeds, which were presented to the veterinary hospital of the Federal University of Uberlândia between March 2015 and April 2016. In addition, a drop of blood was collected from the marginal blood vessels of the ear of dogs included in this study. Ninety-two (30.67%) were positive for Babesia spp., as determined by microscopic observation of the blood smear, revealing the presence of intra-erythrocyte merozoites. For molecular characterization by PCR, 17 samples were chosen from dogs who were tested positive for Babesia spp. by blood smears. Among them, B. vogeli was found to infect all 17 dogs, as determined by 99–100% sequence identity (closest GenBank match KT246307) using primers PIRO A/PIRO B. Our results indicate that the species observed in these dogs was B. vogeli.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the owners for providing permission for their dogs to participate in the study.

Funding

This work was supported by the Foundation for Research Support of Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG; grant number CBB – APQ- 01224-13).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Parasitology Department, Federal University of Uberlândia – ICBIM, Av Pará 1720 Bloco 4C, Campus Umuarama, Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Camila Oliveira Silva Barbosa, Jaqueline Rosa Garcia, Natália de Melo Nasser Fava, Douglas Alves Pereira & Márcia Cristina Cury

  2. Bionanotechnology Laboratory, Federal University of Uberlândia, Campus Umuarama, Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Maria Júlia Rodrigues da Cunha

  3. Koret School of Veterinary Medicine, Hebrew University, P.O. Box 12, Rehovot, Israel

    Yaarit Nachum-Biala & Gad Baneth

Authors
  1. Camila Oliveira Silva Barbosa
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  2. Jaqueline Rosa Garcia
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  3. Natália de Melo Nasser Fava
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  4. Douglas Alves Pereira
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  5. Maria Júlia Rodrigues da Cunha
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  6. Yaarit Nachum-Biala
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  7. Márcia Cristina Cury
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  8. Gad Baneth
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Márcia Cristina Cury.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Section Editor: Larissa Howe

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Barbosa, C.O.S., Garcia, J.R., de Melo Nasser Fava, N. et al. Babesiosis caused by Babesia vogeli in dogs from Uberlândia State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Parasitol Res 119, 1173–1176 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-019-06515-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-019-06515-3

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