title: Molecular survey of Babesia infection in dogs in Okinawa, Japan.
abstract: A total of 80 free-roaming dogs on Okinawa Island, Japan, were examined for Babesia infection using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequence analysis. Of 80 samples, 12 were positive in a Babesia genus-specific PCR. Consequent species-specific PCR for B. canis and B. gibsoni revealed that 5 (6.3%) and 7 (8.8%) dogs were infected with B. canis and B. gibsoni, respectively. Sequence analysis of the PCR products revealed that the 18S rRNA gene sequence of B. canis detected from dogs in Okinawa was very close to B. canis vogeli with sequence similarity of 99.94%.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Veterinary Internal Medicine, Faculty of Agriculture, Yamaguchi University, 1677-1 Yoshida, Yamaguchi 753-8515, Japan. inokuma@yamaguchi-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Hisashi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Inokuma
authors.forename: Yukako
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yoshizaki
authors.forename: Koutaro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: Masaru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Okuda
authors.forename: Takafumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Onishi
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakagome
authors.forename: Ryusei
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kosugi
authors.forename: Munetaka
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hirakawa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001403:Babesia / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001404:Babesiosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D001483:Base Sequence; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000469:parasitology*; D004285:Dogs; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S