Tick-Borne Pathogens, Babesia spp. and Borrelia burgdorferi s.l., in Sled and Companion Dogs from Central and North-Eastern Europe

• Main Authors: Alsarraf, M. (Author), Bajer, A. (Author), Dwużnik-Szarek, D. (Author), Kowalec, M. (Author), Levytska, V.A (Author), Mierzejewska, E.J (Author), Poliukhovych, V. (Author), Rodo, A. (Author), Wężyk, D. (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI 2022
• Subjects: animal experiment; animal model; article; Babesia; Babesia canis; Belarus; Borrelia burgdorferi; controlled study; dog; Eastern Europe; Estonia; Europe; Finland; human; infectious agent; Latvia; Lithuania; molecular typing; nonhuman; paralogs; paralogy; PCR; Poland; prevalence; sled dog; tick; Ukraine
• Online Access: View Fulltext in Publisher

 Ticks are important vectors of numerous pathogens of medical and veterinary signifi-cance. The aim of the current study was to determine the prevalence of Babesia spp. and Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. in sled and pet dogs from Central and North-Eastern Europe. Neither Babesia spp. nor Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. infections were detected in sled dogs from seven countries (Poland, Lith-uania, Latvia, Estonia, Belarus, Russia and Finland). The DNA of Babesia spp. was detected in 100% of symptomatic and 5.4% of asymptomatic pet dogs from Poland. Similarly, the DNA of Babesia spp. was identified in 82% of symptomatic and 3.8% of asymptomatic pet dogs from Ukraine. The DNA of Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. was detected in 4.4% of pet dogs. Molecular typing confirmed the presence of Babesia canis and Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto (s.s.) in selected samples. Four dogs were co-infected by B. canis and Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. Tick-borne pathogens constitute a serious health threat to pet dogs in Central and South-Eastern Europe, but were not observed among sled dogs from the same region of Europe nor in the Baltic countries. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.