Université de Lyon, VetAgro Sup, Jeune Equipe Hémopathogènes Vectorisés, F-69280 Marcy l'Etoile, France.
Vet Parasitol. 2012 Jul 6;187(3-4):399-407. doi: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2012.01.030. Epub 2012 Jan 28.
Babesiosis is an emerging tick-borne disease of animals and humans caused by intraerythrocytic protozoa of the genera Babesia and Theileria. In France canine babesiosis has a high prevalence with Babesia canis thought to be the main aetiological agent of the disease. Babesia vogeli has already been reported to occur in Europe and in other countries around the Mediterranean Sea. The tick Rhipicephalus sanguineus, the main known vector of B. vogeli, occurs in southern France. However, only one case of a B. vogeli infected dog has been reported to date in France. To gain further insight into the prevalence of Babesia and Theileria infections in dogs and ticks of the R. sanguineus complex, a study was conducted in a veterinary practice in the south of France from January to September 2010. Twelve bloods from dogs and 36 R. sanguineus ticks were analyzed using PCR and sequencing. For the analysis of ticks, a new primer was designed to specifically amplify the B. vogeli 18S rRNA gene. Four dogs (33.3%) and 8 ticks (22.2%) were found to be infected with B. vogeli. This approach has thus revealed for the first time a cluster of cases of canine babesiosis caused by B. vogeli in France and highlights the need to systematically screen for pathogens potentially responsible for canine babesiosis at the species level using suitable molecular tools.
巴贝斯虫病是一种由红细胞内原生动物巴贝斯虫属和泰勒虫属引起的新兴蜱传动物和人类疾病。在法国，犬巴贝斯虫病的流行率很高，巴贝斯虫被认为是该病的主要病原体。巴贝斯虫已在欧洲和地中海周边的其他国家报告发生。主要已知传播媒介 Rhipicephalus sanguineus 蜱虫在法国南部出现。然而，迄今为止，法国仅报告了一例感染巴贝斯虫的犬病例。为了更深入地了解法国犬和 R. sanguineus 复合蜱中巴贝斯虫和泰勒虫感染的流行情况，2010 年 1 月至 9 月在法国南部的一家兽医诊所进行了一项研究。使用 PCR 和测序分析了 12 只犬的血液和 36 只 R. sanguineus 蜱虫。为了分析蜱虫，设计了一种新的引物来特异性扩增巴贝斯虫 18S rRNA 基因。发现 4 只犬（33.3%）和 8 只蜱虫（22.2%）感染了巴贝斯虫。因此，该方法首次在法国发现了由巴贝斯虫引起的犬巴贝斯虫病群集，并强调需要使用合适的分子工具，系统地筛选可能导致犬巴贝斯虫病的病原体。
