title: Epidemiological survey of Babesia gibsoni infection in dogs in eastern Japan.
abstract: To determine the distribution of Babesia gibsoni infection in dogs in the eastern part of Japan, an epidemiological survey of dogs suspected of having B. gibsoni infection was attempted using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Thirty-five of 115 such dogs (30.4%) were positive by PCR and/or ELISA. The 35 positive dogs consisted of 28 Tosa dogs, 4 American Pit Bull Terriers, and 3 mongrel dogs in Aomori, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Gunma, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, and Nagano Prefectures. The positive dogs had a significantly lower rate of tick exposure and a higher rate of bites by other dogs. Twenty-two of 35 B. gibsoni-positive dogs were infected with hemoplasma, and the rate of infection was significantly higher than that of B. gibsoni-negative dogs.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Agriculture, Yamaguchi University, Yamaguchi 753-8515, Japan.
authors.forename: Takako
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Miyama
authors.forename: Yoshimi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sakata
authors.forename: Yojiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shimada
authors.forename: Shoji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ogino
authors.forename: Malaika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Kazuhito
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Itamoto
authors.forename: Masaru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Okuda
authors.forename: Rodolfo A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Verdida
authors.forename: Xuenan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xuan
authors.forename: Hideyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nagasawa
authors.forename: Hisashi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Inokuma
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood; D001404:Babesiosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan