High prevalence of tick-borne pathogens in dogs from an Indian reservation in northeastern Arizona.
We evaluated the serological and molecular prevalence of selected organisms in 145 dogs during late spring (May/June) of 2005 and in 88 dogs during winter (February) of 2007 from the Hopi Indian reservation. Additionally, in 2005, 442 ticks attached to dogs were collected and identified as Rhipicephalus sanguineus. Infection with or exposure to at least one organism was detected in 69% and 66% of the dogs in May/June 2005 and February 2007, respectively. Exposure to spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsiae was detected in 66.4% (2005) and 53.4% (2007) of dogs, but rickettsial DNA was not detected using polymerase chain reaction. Active Ehrlichia canis infection (by polymerase chain reaction) was identified in 36.6% (2005) and 36.3% (2007) of the dogs. E. canis infection was associated with SFG rickettsiae seroreactivity (p < 0.001). Anaplasma platys DNA was detected in 8.3% (2005) and 4.5% (2007) of the dogs. Babesia canis and Bartonella vinsonii berkhoffii seroprevalences were 6.7% and 1% in 2005, whereas in 2007 prevalences were 0% and 1.1%, respectively. No Bartonella spp., Ehrlichia chaffeensis, or Ehrlichia ewingii DNA was detected. Dogs on this Hopi Indian reservation were most frequently infected with E. canis or A. platys; however, more than half of the dogs were exposed to a SFG-Rickettsia species.
Diniz
Pedro Paulo V P
PP
Intracellular Pathogens Research Laboratory, Center for Comparative Medicine and Translational Research, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27606, USA.
Beall
Melissa J
MJ
Omark
Karina
K
Chandrashekar
Ramaswamy
R
Daniluk
Daryn A
DA
Cyr
Katie E
KE
Koterski
James F
JF
Robbins
Richard G
RG
Lalo
Pamela G
PG
Hegarty
Barbara C
BC
Breitschwerdt
Edward B
EB
D000709:Anaplasma / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000712:Anaplasmosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000818:Animals; D001130:Arizona / Q000453:epidemiology; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000469:parasitology*; D004285:Dogs; D004536:Ehrlichia / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016873:Ehrlichiosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D005260:Female; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D013984:Tick Infestations / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary