Identification of the causative agent of canine babesiosis in the Kirov Region

Abstract

The purpose of the research is identifying a species of the causative agent of canine babesiosis in the Kirov Region.

Materials and methods. To determine the parasite species, we microscopically examined smears from the peripheral blood of sick dogs stained by the Romanowsky-Giemsa method and Leucodif. The microscopy was performed with a binocular microscope Micromed-1. For morphometric assessment of the causative agent, we used a digital camera and software for image analysis ToupView.

Results and discussion. We found parasites of various shapes and sizes in erythrocytes of the dogs’ blood in an amount from 1 to 4, rarely 8, 16, and 32. Parasites having large paired pear-shaped forms prevailed (100% in Kirov and 92.86% in Vyatskiye Polyany), which were mainly connected by thin ends at an acute angle and located in the center of an erythrocyte. In Vyatskiye Polyany, we found single small pear-shaped parasites in 7.14%, that were also located along the periphery of an erythrocyte. Based on morphological features, the causative agent of “large” Babesia infection (piroplasmosis) of dogs in the Kirov Region is Babesia (Piroplasma) canis (Piana et Galli Walerio, 1895), and of small Babesia infection of dogs is B. (P.) gibsoni (Patton, 1910). In the Kirov City environment, babesiosis proceeds in monoinfection (81.58% prevalence of infection), and the B. canis infection rate is 28.57% in the south of the Region. We recorded a mixed infection of B. canis + Anaplasma sp. (35.71%), B. canis + Anaplasma sp. + Ehrlichia canis (14.29%), B. canis + E. canis (14.29%), and B. gibsoni + Anaplasma sp. (7.14%) in 71.43%.