title: Detection of Babesia canis subspecies and other arthropod-borne diseases in dogs from Tirana, Albania.
abstract: Summary. The importance of arthropod-borne diseases increased in the recent past in particular due to frequent travel with dogs in or by importing of dogs from regions with endemic occurrence of these diseases. While the epidemiological situation is well known for the western parts of the Mediterranean, only limited data is available for Eastern Europe and the Balkans. Thirty clinically healthy dogs from suburban areas of Tirana, Albania, were tested for Babesia canis, Hepatozoon spp., Leishmania spp., Dirofilaria spp., Ehrlichia canis, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Bartonella spp. and Rickettsia spp. using direct and indirect methods. Antibodies against and/or pathogens of arthropod-borne diseases were detected in the blood of 20 (67%) dogs. Nineteen dogs (63%) had antibodies against B. canis, E. canis and/or A. phagocytophilum. Babesia c. canis, Babesia c. vogeli, Hepatozoon spp., D. immitis and/or E. canis were identified by blood smear, PCR or ELISA in 13 (43%) dogs. There was no evidence for Leishmania spp., Bartonella spp. and Rickettsia spp. infections.
authors.affiliation: Chair of Comparative Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Munich, Germany. dietmar.hamel@tropa.vetmed.uni-muenchen.de
authors.forename: Dietmar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hamel
authors.forename: Cornelia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Silaghi
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Knaus
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Visser
authors.forename: Ilir
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kusi
authors.forename: Dhimiter
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rapti
authors.forename: Steffen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rehbein
authors.forename: Kurt
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pfister
mesh_terms: D000415:Albania; D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood*; D001179:Arthropod Vectors / Q000276:immunology*; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000469:parasitology*; D004285:Dogs / Q000469:parasitology*; D013045:Species Specificity; D015047:Zoonoses / Q000469:parasitology*
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan