Epidemiological survey of Babesia gibsoni infection in dogs in Japan by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using B. gibsoni thrombospondin-related adhesive protein antigen.
A nationwide epidemiological survey of Babesia gibsoni infection in non-fighting dogs was conducted using an improved ELISA with recombinant B. gibsoni thrombospondin-related adhesive protein (BgTRAP). A total of 1206 dogs from 27 prefectures were examined and 128 (10.6%) tested positive. In the eastern part of Japan, 39 dogs out of the 559 (7.0%) examined were positive, while 89 dogs out of 647 (13.8%) tested positive in the western part of Japan. Although the percentage of dogs that tested positive was significantly (p=0.0001) lower in the eastern part compared to the western part of Japan, overall these results indicate that B. gibsoni infection of dogs has a widespread geographic distribution throughout the country. A history of tick infestation was identified as a significant risk factor for B. gibsoni infection (p=0.0091), while sex (p=0.9411), age (p=0.0920) and breed (p=0.0549) of dogs were not statistically significant risk factors. These results indicate that tick infestation is the most dominant risk factor for B. gibsoni infection of non-fighting dogs in Japan and suggest that other B. gibsoni transmission routes, such as fighting and transplacental transmission, may be less important.
Department of Clinical Veterinary Science, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Hokkaido 080-8555, Japan.
Kenji
K
Konishi
Yoshimi
Y
Sakata
Naomi
N
Miyazaki
Honglin
H
Jia
Youn-Kyoung
YK
Goo
Xuenan
X
Xuan
Hisashi
H
Inokuma
D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000276:immunology*; D001403:Babesia / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001404:Babesiosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000662:veterinary*; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology*; D004285:Dogs; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005843:Geography; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D013984:Tick Infestations / Q000662:veterinary
D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; C069428:thrombospondin-related adhesive protein, protozoan