title: A case of canine borreliosis in Iran caused by Borrelia persica.
abstract: Tick-borne relapsing fever is an endemic disease in Iran, with most cases attributed to infection by Borrelia persica, which is transmitted by Ornithodoros tholozani soft ticks. Here, we report spirochetemia in blood of a puppy residing in Tehran, Iran. The causative species was identified by use of highly discriminative IGS sequencing; the 489 bp IGS sequence obtained in our study showed 99% identity (100% coverage) when compared with B. persica sequences derived from clinical cases or from O. tholozani ticks. Our IGS sequence also showed 99% similarity over 414 bp (85% coverage) with a strain from a domestic dog, and 96% over 328 bp (69% coverage) with a strain from a domestic cat. Pet-keeping in cosmopolitan cities like Tehran has become increasingly popular in recent years. Animals are often transported into the city in cages or cardboard boxes that might also harbor minute tick larvae and/or early stages of the nymphs bringing them into the urban environment. This may pose a threat to household members who buy and keep these puppies and as a result may come into close contact with infected ticks.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Darush
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Shirani
authors.affiliation: Department of Small Animals Internal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Alaleh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rakhshanpoor
authors.affiliation: School of Health, Sport & Bioscience, University of East London, London, United Kingdom. Electronic address: s.cutler@uel.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Sally Jane
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Cutler
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Behnaz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ghazinezhad
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Saied Reza
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Naddaf
mesh_terms: D000667:Ampicillin / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001096:Arachnid Vectors / Q000382:microbiology*; D001898:Borrelia / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D001899:Borrelia Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology / Q000469:parasitology; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D007492:Iran; D026861:Ornithodoros / Q000382:microbiology*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017282:Tick-Borne Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology / Q000469:parasitology; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000667:Ampicillin
keywords: Borrelia persica; Canine borreliosis; Companion animals; Tick-borne relapsing fever; Vector-borne infection