title: Prevalence of Babesia canis, Borrelia afzelii, and Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection in hard ticks removed from dogs in Warsaw (central Poland).
abstract: The purposes of this study were to specify the occurrence and prevalence of Babesia canis, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, and Anaplasma phagocytophilum in ticks removed from dogs in Warsaw, and to determine the Borrelia species occurring in Ixodes ricinus ticks. Among 590 collected ticks, 209 were identified as I. ricinus, and 381 as Dermacentor reticulatus. DNA of B. canis was detected in 11% of D. reticulatus ticks. We found that 6.2% of I. ricinus ticks harbored B. burgdorferi s.l. specific DNA and 2.9% harbored A. phagocytophilum DNA. In these samples sequencing of the detected Borrelia amplicon confirmed infection with Borrelia afzelii genospecies. New sequences were submitted to the GenBank database (accession no. EU152128, EU152127, EU152126). This work is the first detection of B. afzelii and A. phagocytophilum in ticks from Warsaw, and the first survey for the prevalence of B. canis, B. afzelii, and A. phagocytophilum in ticks in central Poland.
authors.affiliation: Division of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, Department of Preclinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Warsaw Agricultural University, Ciszewskiego 8, 02-786 Warsaw, Poland. wojciechzygner@yahoo.pl
authors.forename: Wojciech
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zygner
authors.forename: Sławomir
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jaros
authors.forename: Halina
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wedrychowicz
mesh_terms: D041081:Anaplasma phagocytophilum / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D000818:Animals; D001403:Babesia / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015748:Borrelia burgdorferi Group / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000469:parasitology; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D026863:Ixodidae / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000469:parasitology*; D008297:Male; D011044:Poland; D015995:Prevalence; D013984:Tick Infestations / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary