Acta Vet. Brno 2012, 81: 91-95

https://doi.org/10.2754/avb201281020091

Contribution to canine babesiosis in the Czech Republic

Jarmila Konvalinová1, Ivo Rudolf2, Silvie Šikutová2, Zdeněk Hubálek2, Vlasta Svobodová3, Miroslav Svoboda1

1Clinic of Dog and Cat Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Czech Republic
2Institute of Vertebrate Biology, v.v.i., Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Medical Zoology Laboratory, Valtice, Czech Republic
3Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Czech Republic

From March to November 2010, a total of 68 samples of blood from 41 hunting and working dogs that never left the Czech Republic were examined. Some dogs were sampled repeatedly. Blood samples were examined by polymerase chain reaction for the presence of DNA of piroplasms with negative results. Specific IgG antibodies against Babesia canis were detected by indirect immunofluorescence test, and five dogs (12.21%) were seropositive. Titres ranged from 50 to 200. One dog was positive in two samplings within 3 months. The highest number of positive samples was taken in June. The results of this study suggest a likely contact of the examined dogs with the parasite; although in 2005, a total of 340 adult unfed Dermacentor reticulatus ticks in 34 pools screened by PCR for babesiae were negative.

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