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Not AvailableCanine babesiosis is emerging vector-borne disease of dogs and wild canids. The study aimed to develop PCR assay for detection of Babesia gibsoni and understanding epidemiology of disease in dogs. The cytochrome b gene base PCR assay was developed with analytical sensitivity of detection up to 10-2 (0.5 ng/µl) of DNA. The specificity was confirmed by testing DNA from B. vogeli, Ehrlichia canis, Hepatozoon canis, and Dirofilaria repens. The thin blood smears examination revealed prevalence of 9.75% (32/328) for B. gibsoni. Whereas, with PCR the prevalence rate of 10.97% was recorded. There was significant association between vomition and dark yellow coloured urine with B. gibsoni infection. While age, breed, sex of the host and presence of ticks on animal body were not significantly associated with the occurrence of B. gibsoni infection. The sequence analysis showed 99.16-99.63% identity among themselves and 98.41 to 98.69% similarities with the published sequences of B. gibsoni. The phylogenetic analysis of Indian B. gibsoni isolates formed a single major group with other Asian countries indicating the monophyletic nature of B. gibsoni compared to other Babesia spp. Even though the vomition and yellow coloured urine combined with microscopic examination may help in diagnosis of B. gibsoni infection. Considering high analytical sensitivity and specificity of the cytochrome b based PCR, we recommend confirmatory diagnosis with PCR before undertaking the treatment in suspected cases of B. gibsoni infection.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableBabesia vogeli infection is an important tick-borne haemoprotozoan disease of canids. The study was carried out to understand the prevalence and molecular phylogeny of B. vogeli in pet dogs. A total of 128 blood samples were collected during study period. The microscopy based prevalence of 7.81% was recorded for large form of Babesia spp. We developed and standardized heat shock protein (hsp) 70 genebased PCR assay with high analytical sensitivity and specificity tested with B. gibsoni, H. canis and D. repens. The PCR assay on all the blood samples revealed higher prevalence rate of 25% of B. vogeli infection. The correlation analysis for age, breed, sex and presence of ticks on animal body did not reveal significant association with B. vogeliinfection, and among the clinical factors, only pale mucus membrane was significantly associated with presence of infection. The sequence analysis revealed 99.8–99.9% identity among themselves and 99.8–100% similarity with the published sequences of B. vogeli. Phylogenetically, all the Indian isolates clustered together with Japan and Taiwan isolates, indicating genetically similar species circulation in Asian content. In conclusion, in addition to clinical and microscopic examination, the PCR assay is recommended for confirmatory diagnosis of B. vogeli infection as genetically similar species are circulating in dogs.Not Availabl