A survey on Babesia infection in dogs of urban and rural regions of Tabriz city, Iran

Canine babesiosis is an important disease caused by Babesia spp. and is of healthy importance and cosmopolitan distribution. This disease was initially considered as a tropical and subtropical disease. Recently, increasing occurrence of canine babesiosis has also been detected on temperate areas of the world. The aim of present study was survey on frequency of canine babesiosis in dogs from Tabriz and suburb. A total of 121 blood samples were randomly taken from dogs. Babesia Infection was survived with microscopic examination of thin layer smears from peripheral blood and amplification of 416 bp fragment of 18S rDNA using molecular method. Out of 22(18.2%) and 8(6.6%) of 121 blood samples were positive for Babesia in all study areas in molecular and microscopic survey, respectively. Commercial (28.6%), male (19.2%) and 2> years old (21.1%) dogs had the highest infection rates. No significant differences were found between geographic distribution of infection and obtained data. In this study, it was indicated that molecular detection of canine babesiosis is of more efficiency than microscopic method and further supplemental surveys is suggested.