Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Sep 12;79(9):1494-1502.
doi: 10.1292/jvms.17-0224. Epub 2017 Aug 6.

The prevalence of Anaplasma platys and a potential novel Anaplasma species exceed that of Ehrlichia canis in asymptomatic dogs and Rhipicephalus sanguineus in Taiwan

Yumi Yuasa  1 , Yi-Lun Tsai  2 , Chao-Chin Chang  3 , Tien-Huan Hsu  1 , Chi-Chung Chou  1
Affiliations

The prevalence of Anaplasma platys and a potential novel Anaplasma species exceed that of Ehrlichia canis in asymptomatic dogs and Rhipicephalus sanguineus in Taiwan

Yumi Yuasa et al. J Vet Med Sci. .

Abstract

Canine anaplasmosis is regarded as an infection by Anaplasma platys rather than zoonotic Anaplasma phagocytophilum in subtropical areas based on the assumption that the common dog tick species is Rhipicephalus sanguineus, which transmits E. canis and presumably A. platys. We investigated asymptomatic dogs and dog ticks from 16 communities in Nantou County, Taiwan to identify common dog tick species and to determine the prevalence of Anaplasma and Ehrlichia spp. Of total 175 canine blood samples and 315 ticks, including 306 R. sanguineus and 9 Haemaphysalis hystricis, 15 dogs and 3 R. sanguineus ticks were positive for E. canis, while 47 dogs and 71 R. sanguineus ticks were positive for A. platys, via nested PCR for 16S rDNA and DNA sequencing of selected positive amplicons. However, among the dogs and ticks that were positive to A. platys 16S rDNA, only 20 dogs and 11 ticks were positive to nested PCR for A. platys groEL gene. These results revealed the importance of searching for novel Anaplasma spp. closely related to A. platys in dogs and ticks. Seropositivity to a commercial immunochromatographic test SNAP 4Dx Anaplasma sp. was not significantly associated with PCR positivity for A. platys but with infestation by ticks carrying A. platys (P<0.05). Accordingly, R. sanguineus may be involved in transmission of A. platys but may not act as a reservoir of E. canis and PCR results for 16S rDNA could be a problematic diagnostic index for A. platys infection.

Keywords: 16S rDNA; Anaplasma platys; Ehrlichia canis; Rhipicephalus sanguineus; groEL gene.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Location of the study area, Nantou County, Taiwan. The 16 studied communities are represented by a circle simultaneously indicating both the degree of tick infestation (the bigger, the higher) and the local seroprevalence of E. canis and Anaplasma sp. infection determined via SNAP 4Dx (White: low seroprevalence. Black: high seroprevalence*). *low: the local seroprevalence of E. canis and/or Anaplasma sp. was lower than the average for the entire population. high: the local seroprevalence of E. canis and/or Anaplasma sp. was higher than the average for the entire population
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Locations and orientations of the primers with respect to A. platys groEL gene. The numbers in each parenthesis represent the primer position relative to the nucleotide sequence of the A. platys groEL gene (GenBank accession number AF478129). *Reverse orientation. **The primer sequences of ApGro-1s and ApGro-284as were derived from the sites homology to multiple nucleotide sequences of A. phagocyophilum groEL genes (AF172158, EE473209, AF482760, KU519287).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Alleman A. R., Wamsley H. L.2008. An update on anaplasmosis in dogs. Vet. Med. 103: 212–220.
    1. Anderson B. E., Sumner J. W., Dawson J. E., Tzianabos T., Greene C. R., Olson J. G., Fishbein D. B., Olsen-Rasmussen M., Holloway B. P., George E. H., Azad A. F.1992. Detection of the etiologic agent of human ehrlichiosis by polymerase chain reaction. J. Clin. Microbiol. 30: 775–780. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Beall M. J., Chandrashekar R., Eberts M. D., Cyr K. E., Diniz P. P. V. P., Mainville C., Hegarty B. C., Crawford J. M., Breitschwerdt E. B.2008. Serological and molecular prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, and Ehrlichia species in dogs from Minnesota. Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 8: 455–464. doi: 10.1089/vbz.2007.0236 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Beaufils J. P., Inokuma H., Martin-Granel J., Jumelle P., Barbault-Jumelle M., Brouqui P.2002. Anaplasma platys (Ehrlichia platys) infection in a dog in France: description of the case, and characterization of the agent. Rev. Med. Vet. 153: 85–90.
    1. Chang A. C. H., Chang W. L., Lin C. T., Pan M. J., Lee S. C.1996. Canine infectious cyclic thrombocytopenia found in Taiwan. J. Vet. Med. Sci. 58: 473–476. doi: 10.1292/jvms.58.473 - DOI - PubMed

MeSH terms