Canine vector-borne pathogens from dogs and ticks from Tamil Nadu, India

• Published in: Acta tropica 2020-03, Vol.203, p.105308-105308, Article 105308
• Main Authors: Manoj, Ranju Ravindran Santhakumari, Iatta, Roberta, Latrofa, Maria Stefania, Capozzi, Loredana, Raman, Muthusamy, Colella, Vito, Otranto, Domenico
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anaplasma phagocytophilum; Anaplasma platys; Babesia gibsoni; Babesia vogeli; Canine vector-borne diseases; Dogs; Ehrlichia canis; Hepatozoon canis; India; Leishmania infantum; Rhipicephalus sanguineus s.l; Ticks
• ISSN: 0001-706X; 1873-6254
• DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2019.105308

•The presence of canine vector-borne pathogens in feral dogs and ticks from South India was molecularly investigated.•Of 230 dogs, 99.6% were infested by ticks and Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato being the most prevalent tick species.•Of 230 dogs, 67.8% were positive for at least one pathogen with Hepatozoon canis being the most prevalent (37.8%) species.•Brugia malayi, Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Dirofilaria sp. “hongkongensis” is reported for the first time from Tamil Nadu. Canine vector-borne diseases (CVBDs) pose a major health problem in dogs globally, with the potential to cause zoonoses, in particular in developing countries where scientific knowledge on the topic is minimal. Blood samples and ticks were collected from stray dogs in Tamil Nadu, South India to assess the prevalence of CVBD-causing pathogens (Anaplasma spp., Babesia spp., Ehrlichia spp., Hepatozoon spp., filarioids and Leishmania spp.). Of the 230 dogs examined, 229 (99.6%) were infested by ticks (mean intensity, 5.65) with Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato and Rhipicephalus haemaphysaloides being morphologically identified in the 98.3% and 1.7% of the infested dogs, respectively. Overall, the 67.8% (n = 156) of dogs was positive for at least one pathogen with Hepatozoon canis being the most prevalent (37.8%) followed by Anaplasma platys (22.6%), Ehrlichia canis (16.1%) Babesia vogeli (10%), Anaplasma phagocytophilum (0.4%) and Babesia gibsoni (0.4%). Two filarioids (Dirofilaria sp. “hongkongensis” and Brugia malayi, 0.4%) were diagnosed in sampled animals. Co-infection with H. canis and A. platys was the most prevalent (8.3%, P = 0.00001), whilst all animals scored negative for Leishmania spp.. Out of 295 ticks analysed, 215 R. sanguineus s.l. (75.4%) and 8 R. haemaphysaloides (88.9%) were positive for at least one pathogen with H. canis as the predominant species (42.5%), followed by A. platys (33.8%), E. canis (16.9%), B. vogeli (3.8%) and A. phagocytophilum (0.3%). Fifty-six dogs (35.9%) harboured the same pathogen as the respective tick specimens, while 29 dogs (18.6%) had a different pathogen. Thirteen sequence types (STs) were identified for H. canis, with ST2 (49.4%) as the most representative in dogs and ST1 (73.5%) in ticks. Similarly, seven STs were found for Anaplasma spp. (i.e., five for A. platys, one for A. phagocytophilum and one for Anaplasma sp.), with ST2 as the most representative in dogs (70.6%) and ST3 (52.5%) in ticks for A. platys. Only one ST was ident