Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine, St. Kitts, West Indies.
PLoS One. 2013;8(1):e53450. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0053450. Epub 2013 Jan 15.
Although tick-borne diseases are important causes of morbidity and mortality in dogs in tropical areas, there is little information on the agents causing these infections in the Caribbean.
We used PCRs to test blood from a cross-section of dogs on St Kitts for Ehrlichia (E.) canis, Babesia (B.) spp., Anaplasma (A.) spp. and Hepatozoon (H.) spp. Antibodies against E. canis and A. phagocytophilum/platys were detected using commercial immunochromatography tests. Records of the dogs were examined retrospectively to obtain clinical and laboratory data.
There was serological and/or PCR evidence of infections of dogs with E. canis (27%; 46/170), Babesia spp. (24%; 90/372) including B. canis vogeli (12%; 43/372) and B. gibsoni (10%; 36/372), A. platys (11%; 17/157) and H. canis (6%; 15/266). We could not identify the Babesia sp. detected in nine dogs. There was evidence of multiple infections with dual infections with E. canis and B. canis vogeli (8%; 14/179) or B. gibsoni (7%; 11/170) being the most common. There was agreement between immunochromatography and PCR test results for E. canis for 87% of dogs. Only 13% of exposed dogs had signs of a tick-borne disease and 38% had laboratory abnormalities. All 10 dogs presenting for a recheck after treatment of E. canis with doxycycline were apparently healthy although all remained seropositive and six still had laboratory abnormalities despite an average of two treatments with the most recent being around 12 months previously. Infections with Babesia spp. were also mainly subclinical with only 6% (4/67) showing clinical signs and 13% (9/67) having laboratory abnormalities. Similarly, animals with evidence of infections with A. platys and H. canis were largely apparently healthy with only occasional laboratory abnormalities.
Dogs are commonly infected with tick-borne pathogens in the Caribbean with most having no clinical signs or laboratory abnormalities.
尽管蜱传疾病是热带地区犬类发病率和死亡率的重要原因，但关于加勒比地区这些感染的病原体知之甚少。
我们使用 PCR 检测了圣基茨的犬类血液样本，以检测犬埃立克体（E. canis）、巴贝斯虫（B. spp.）、无形体（A. spp.）和血孢子虫（H. spp.）。使用商业免疫层析试验检测犬埃立克体和嗜吞噬细胞无形体/血小板无形体的抗体。回顾性检查犬的记录以获取临床和实验室数据。
犬 E. canis（27%；46/170）、巴贝斯虫（24%；90/372）包括犬巴贝斯虫 vogeli（12%；43/372）和犬巴贝斯虫 gibsoni（10%；36/372）、无形体（11%；17/157）和血孢子虫（6%；15/266）感染的血清学和/或 PCR 证据。我们无法确定在 9 只犬中检测到的巴贝斯虫属。双重感染 E. canis 和犬巴贝斯虫 vogeli（8%；14/179）或犬巴贝斯虫 gibsoni（7%；11/170）的情况最为常见。免疫层析和 PCR 试验对 E. canis 的检测结果有 87%的一致性。只有 13%的暴露犬出现蜱传疾病的症状，38%的犬有实验室异常。10 只接受多西环素治疗后复查的犬显然健康，尽管所有犬仍呈血清阳性，6 只犬仍有实验室异常，尽管最近一次治疗平均为 12 个月前。巴贝斯虫感染也主要是亚临床的，只有 6%（4/67）的犬有临床症状，13%（9/67）的犬有实验室异常。同样，感染无形体和血孢子虫的动物大多显然健康，只有偶尔的实验室异常。
加勒比地区的犬类常感染蜱传病原体，大多数犬无临床症状或实验室异常。
