A presumptive case of cerebral babesiosis in a dog in Poland caused by a virulent Babesia canis strain.
The aim of this paper was to present the first case of cerebral canine babesiosis due to infection by  Babesia canis  in a dog in Poland. A 5-year-old American Staffordshire Terrier was presented with an unusual clinical manifestation of acute babesiosis that included neurological signs and pancytopenia. Despite treatment the dog died. Diagnosis was based on microscopic examination of Giemsa-stained blood smears (detection of piroplasms in red blood cells) and post mortem examination of the brain by histopathology and PCR method. The amplified segment of the  Babesia  18S RNA gene was sequenced. This enabled to determine that the cause of the disease had been the strain 18S RNA-B EU622793. This is one of two  B. canis  strains found endemically in Poland, which reveals a greater virulence than the strain 18S RNA-A EU622792. The described case indicates that this form of canine babesiosis should be taken into account in differential diagnosis in dogs exhibiting neurological symptoms, especially in the tick activity season.
Department of Epizootiology and Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Life Sciences, 30 Gleboka St. 20-612, Lublin, Poland. ukaszek0@wp.pl
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L
Adaszek
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Górna
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P
Klimiuk
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M
Kalinowski
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Winiarczyk
D000818:Animals; D001403:Babesia / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001404:Babesiosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology; D001921:Brain / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology; D004285:Dogs; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D011044:Poland