title: Molecular survey of Rickettsia spp. in sick dogs in Italy.
abstract: The aim of this retrospective study was to investigate the prevalence of Rickettsia spp. DNA in the blood of sick dogs from Italy. Canine blood samples (n=650) submitted for molecular testing of Rickettsia spp. to a diagnostic laboratory from February 2003 to March 2006 were studied. The Rickettsia spp. DNA detection was performed by Light Cycler real-time PCR using hybridization probes separately conducted with specific primers and probes. The total percentage of Rickettsia spp.-positive dog samples was 1.5% (10 out of 650). The percentage of Rickettsia spp.-positive dog samples submitted from north, central and southern Italy were 0.4% (1/248), 1.4% (3/219) and 3.3% (6/183), respectively. Five out of 138 dogs (3.6%) from Sicily were positive on Rickettsia PCR testing. A statistical difference was found between the percentages of positive samples from the Yorkshire terrier group (10.7%) compared with the mixed breed group (0.7%). No statistical differences were found between seasonal period, region and gender. Based on molecular data, there is infrequent rickettsiemia in dogs.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio d'Analisi Veterinarie San Marco, Padova, Italy. lsolano@rvc.ac.uk
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Solano-Gallego
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Trotta
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Caldin
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Furlanello
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001907:Boutonneuse Fever / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission* / Q000662:veterinary; D001947:Breeding; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission*; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011634:Public Health; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D048508:Rhipicephalus sanguineus / Q000382:microbiology*; D020114:Rickettsia conorii / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012307:Risk Factors; D015047:Zoonoses
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial