title: First report of Rangelia vitalii infection (canine rangeliosis) in Argentina.
abstract: A 12-year old mixed breed neutered bitch from Misiones, Argentina, was presented with a history of fever and epistaxis. Blood, bone marrow, and lymph node samples were collected for hematology and cytology. Mild regenerative anemia was recorded and large, round, poorly stained piroplasms (>2.5 μm) were found within erythrocytes in blood and lymph node smears. Nested PCR-RFLP on blood and bone marrow samples was positive for piroplasm DNA. The 18S rRNA gene of piroplasms was targeted. A restriction pattern of a previously unreported piroplasm was observed. The PCR product was sequenced, and the sequence obtained had 99% identity with the Rangelia vitalii sequences from Brazil when compared by BLAST analysis. Further characterization of the detected piroplasm consisted of nearly full-length sequencing (1668 bp) of the 18S rRNA gene of this organism. Those sequences were deposited in GenBank. A phylogenetic analysis indicated that they clustered together with R. vitalii from Brazil but separately from large Babesia species of dogs such as Babesia canis, and from species of Theileria of dogs as well. This is the first report of R. vitalii infection in Argentina, and the first case of canine rangeliosis diagnosed outside Brazil.
authors: Laboratorio DIAP (Diagnóstico en Animales Pequeños), Pueyrredón 1098, B1828ADD Banfield, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Laboratorio de Inmunoparasitología. Departamento de Epizootiología y Salud Pública, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, CC 296, B1900AVW La Plata, Argentina. Electronic address: diegoeiras@diap.com.ar.
authors: Diego Fernando
authors: DF
authors: Eiras
authors: Laboratorio DIAP (Diagnóstico en Animales Pequeños), Pueyrredón 1098, B1828ADD Banfield, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors: María Belén
authors: MB
authors: Craviotto
authors: School of Veterinary Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, P.O. Box 12, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
authors: Gad
authors: G
authors: Baneth
authors: Laboratorio de Inmunoparasitología. Departamento de Epizootiología y Salud Pública, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, CC 296, B1900AVW La Plata, Argentina; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Rivadavia 1917, C1033AAJ Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors: Gastón
authors: G
authors: Moré
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001118:Argentina / Q000453:epidemiology; D001483:Base Sequence; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D016792:Piroplasmida / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D011529:Protozoan Infections, Animal / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S
keywords: Argentina; Canine; Nambiuvú; Piroplasm; Rangelia vitalii; Rangeliosis