title: First report of Babesia gibsoni in Central America and survey for vector-borne infections in dogs from Nicaragua.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although many vector-borne diseases are important causes of morbidity and mortality in dogs in tropical areas and potential zoonoses, there is little information on these conditions in Central America.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seven qPCRs for vector-borne pathogens were performed on a Roche LightCycler PCR Instrument to investigate their prevalence in a convenience sample of whole blood samples from apparently healthy dogs in Nicaragua. Also, a qPCR targeting the canine hydroxymethylbilane synthase (HMBS) gene was used as an endogenous internal control and verified the quality and quantity of DNA in the samples was appropriate for the study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found DNA of Rickettsia felis (5%), Babesia spp. (26%), Hepatozoon canis (51%), Anaplasma platys (13%) and Ehrlichia canis (56%) in the 39 dogs studied. The qPCRs for Coxiella burnetii and Dirofilaria immitis were negative. Of the 30 (80%) dogs that were positive by qPCR, 12 (31%) were positive for one agent, 11 (28%) for two, 3 (8%) for three, and 4 (10%) for four agents.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first report of B. gibsoni in dogs from Central America and the first recording of vector-borne agents in dogs from Nicaragua. Dogs in Nicaragua are commonly infected with a variety of vector-borne pathogens, some of which may also infect people.
authors.forename: Lanjing
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kelly
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ackerson
authors.forename: Jilei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Heba S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: El-Mahallawy
authors.forename: Bernhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kaltenboeck
authors.affiliation: Yangzhou University College of Veterinary Medicine, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, P, R, China. chengmingwang@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Chengming
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000709:Anaplasma / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000818:Animals; D001403:Babesia / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001404:Babesiosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000097:blood*; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D004285:Dogs; D004536:Ehrlichia / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016783:Eucoccidiida / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D018628:Gene Dosage; D011163:Hydroxymethylbilane Synthase / Q000235:genetics; D009527:Nicaragua / Q000453:epidemiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D015995:Prevalence; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D012281:Rickettsia / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; D011163:Hydroxymethylbilane Synthase