Survey of selected tick-borne diseases in dogs in Finland

BACKGROUND: Due to climate changes during the last decades, ticks have progressively spread into higher latitudes in northern Europe. Although some tick borne diseases are known to be endemic in Finland, to date there is limited information with regard to the prevalence of these infections in compan...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Parasites & vectors 2014-06, Vol.7 (1), p.285-285
Main Authors: Pérez Vera, Cristina, Kapiainen, Suvi, Junnikkala, Sami, Aaltonen, Kirsi, Spillmann, Thomas, Vapalahti, Olli
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anaplasma phagocytophilum
Anaplasmosis
Animals
Antibodies
Arachnids
Bacterial Infections - epidemiology
Bacterial Infections - veterinary
Bartonella
Blood banks
Borrelia burgdorferi
Borreliosis
Climate change
Confidence intervals
Deer
DNA
Dog Diseases - epidemiology
Dog Diseases - microbiology
Dog Diseases - parasitology
Dogs
Ehrlichia canis
Encephalitis
Epidemiology
Female
Fever
Finland
Finland - epidemiology
Genetic aspects
Health aspects
humans
Infections
islands
Laboratory animals
latitude
Lyme disease
Male
Outdoor activities
pets
polymerase chain reaction
regression analysis
risk factors
seroprevalence
Studies
Surveys
Tick Infestations - complications
Tick Infestations - veterinary
tick-borne diseases
Tick-Borne Diseases - epidemiology
Tick-Borne Diseases - parasitology
Tick-Borne Diseases - veterinary
ticks
Veterinarians
Veterinary medicine
Viral antibodies
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Summary:BACKGROUND: Due to climate changes during the last decades, ticks have progressively spread into higher latitudes in northern Europe. Although some tick borne diseases are known to be endemic in Finland, to date there is limited information with regard to the prevalence of these infections in companion animals. We determined the antibody and DNA prevalence of the following organisms in randomly selected client-owned and clinically healthy hunting dogs living in Finland: Ehrlichia canis (Ec), Anaplasma phagocytophilum (Ap), Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb) and Bartonella. METHODS: Anti-Ap, −Bb and –Ec antibodies were determined in 340 Finnish pet dogs and 50 healthy hunting dogs using the 4DX Snap®Test (IDEXX Laboratories). In addition, PCRs for the detection of Ap and Bartonella DNA were performed. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to identify risk factors associated with seropositivity to a vector borne agent. RESULTS: The overall seroprevalence was highest for Ap (5.3%), followed by Bb (2.9%), and Ec (0.3%). Seropositivities to Ap and Bb were significantly higher in the Åland Islands (p
ISSN:1756-3305
1756-3305
DOI:10.1186/1756-3305-7-285