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. 2020 Aug 17;16(1):297.
doi: 10.1186/s12917-020-02500-6.

Molecular evidence of piroplasm infection in companion animals in Hunan Province, China

Jinming Wang  1 , Xiaoxing Wang  1 , Hao Sun  1 , Zhaoyun Lv  1 , Youquan Li  1 , Jianxun Luo  1 , Guiquan Guan  2 , Hong Yin  3   4
Affiliations

Molecular evidence of piroplasm infection in companion animals in Hunan Province, China

Jinming Wang et al. BMC Vet Res. .

Abstract

Background: Feline and canine babesiosis is an important tick-borne disease caused by parasites of the genus Babesia. The disease has a worldwide distribution and causes serious health problems in domestic and wild canidae and felidae.

Results: Genomic DNA was isolated from blood samples, which were randomly collected from pet dogs (n = 115) and cats (n = 25) in Changsha city of Hunan Province, China. Results of nested PCR assay targeting 18S rRNA gene and partial gene sequencing revealed that seven animals were infected with Babesia species, five dogs (5/115, 4.3%) and two cats (2/25, 8.0%). Sequence analysis showed that four dogs (3.5%) were positive for Babesia canis, and the other one for Babesia vogeli (0.87%). The two cats were infected by Babesia hongkongensis.

Conclusions: The findings of this study will expand knowledge of the distribution of Babesia species and provide important epidemiological information for the control of animal babesiosis in China.

Keywords: Babesia; China; Feline and canine babesiosis; Nested PCR; Pet dog and cat.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Phylogenetic tree based on the sequences of the Babesia 18S rRNA gene (approximately 1400 bp). The tree was constructed using the neighbor joining method of MEGA7 software, and values are given at the nodes. Numbers above the branches demonstrate bootstrap support from 1000 replications. The newly generated sequences in the present study are indicated by bold triangles
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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