Canine babesiosis and tick activity monitored using companion animal electronic health records in the UK

Abstract

Recent publications highlighting autochthonous Babesia canis infection in dogs from Essex that have not travelled outside the UK are a powerful reminder of the potential for pathogen emergence in new populations. Here the authors use electronic health data collected from two diagnostic laboratories and a network of 392 veterinary premises to describe canine Babesia cases and levels of Babesia concern from January 2015 to March 2016, and the activity of ticks during December 2015-March 2016. In most areas of the UK, Babesia diagnosis in this population was rare and sporadic. In addition, there was a clear focus of Babesia cases in the affected area in Essex. Until February 2016, analysis of health records indicated only sporadic interest in Babesia largely in animals coming from overseas. Following media coverage in March 2016, there was a spike in owner concern that was geographically dispersed beyond the at-risk area. Tick activity (identified as ticks being removed from animals in veterinary consultations) was consistent but low during the period preceding the infections (<5 ticks/10,000 consultations), but increased in March. This highlights the use of electronic health data to describe rapidly evolving risk and concern that follows the emergence of a pathogen.

Keywords: Babesiosis; Dogs; Tickborne diseases; Ticks.

FIG 1:

Samples testing PCR positive for Babesia in (a) 2015 and (b) January–March 2016. The red dots in (b) indicate the locations of owners expressing concern about UK risk of Babesia infection in February–March 2016. The red asterisk indicates the Chelmsford postcode area, the location of the initial outbreak (Swainsbury and others 2016). The yellow areas indicate postcode areas from which no diagnostic samples were received from participating laboratories during the study period

FIG 2:

Tick activity in the UK between December 2015 and March 2016 based on reference to ticks in the clinical narrative. (a) Seasonality of ticks by week. The grey shadow shows 95 per cent confidence intervals calculated in each week. The dotted lines in black and red indicate the week of the first publication describing three autochthonous cases (Swainsbury and others 2016), and the week of the national media coverage respectively. (b) Number of tick consultations per 10,000 consultations in each postcode area. SO (Southampton), FK (Falkirk), WF (Wakefield). The red asterisk indicates the Chelmsford postcode area, the location of the initial outbreak