Case-control study of canine infection by a newly recognised Babesia microti-like piroplasm.
We did a case-control study to identify risk factors for prevalent infection of dogs by a newly recognised Babesia microti-like piroplasm. Clinical manifestations and haematology of infected dogs also were described. Forty-three laboratory-based cases and 86 individually matched controls were studied. Information on clinical signs and on risk factors was collected by a questionnaire and telephone interviews. Haematology was carried out for all the dogs. Variables were screened in a bivariable conditional logistic regression and checked for colinearity. The final multivariable model was selected by backward stepwise elimination. The odds of a case having ticks when examined at the clinic was 4 times that of a control and the odds of a case being a hunting or a house-guarding dog were, respectively, 24.2 and 2.7 times those of a control. The most consistently reported clinical signs were weakness (79%), tachycardia (43%) and haemoglobinuria (42%). Mean red-blood-cell count, haemoglobin concentration, platelet count, and mean platelet volume of infected dogs were lower than the reference values and those of non-infected dogs-but leukocyte count, mean corpuscular volume and red-blood-cell distribution width were higher.
D000822:Animal Husbandry; D000818:Animals; D041001:Babesia microti / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001404:Babesiosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D004285:Dogs; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013987:Ticks