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Review
. 2022 Mar 16;12(6):739.
doi: 10.3390/ani12060739.

The Etiology, Incidence, Pathogenesis, Diagnostics, and Treatment of Canine Babesiosis Caused by Babesia gibsoni Infection

Martina Karasová  1 , Csilla Tóthová  2 , Simona Grelová  1 , Mária Fialkovičová  1
Affiliations
Review

The Etiology, Incidence, Pathogenesis, Diagnostics, and Treatment of Canine Babesiosis Caused by Babesia gibsoni Infection

Martina Karasová et al. Animals (Basel). .

Abstract

Babesia gibsoni is one of the small Babesia species and the infection this pathogen causes is usually asymptomatic, which complicates the capture of potential parasite carriers. In endemic areas, especially in Asia, B. gibsoni occurs quite often due to direct transmission by way of a tick vector. Due to the absence of vectors, its occurrence is described only sporadically in Europe; but, it is increasingly occurring in predisposed, so-called fighting breeds, especially the American pit bull terrier. This review describes the etiology, incidence, clinical signs, pathogenesis, diagnostics, and treatment of B. gibsoni infection, with an emphasis on the clinical and laboratory peculiarities of the disease. As the treated dogs do not eliminate the parasite from the body-only reducing parasitemia and improving clinical signs-the treatment of B. gibsoni infection is a challenge in many cases, and its study therefore deserves great attention.

Keywords: Babesia gibsoni; canine babesiosis; dog.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Occurrence of Babesia gibsoni in Europe.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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