Autochthonous Babesia canis, Hepatozoon canis and imported Babesia gibsoni infection in dogs in the Czech Republic

The epidemiology of tick-borne diseases as well as the ecology of the associated tick vectors is currently undergoing dynamic change. Canine babesiosis has, to date, only been reported in the Czech Republic as an imported disease, despite the presence of an established population of D. reticulatus in the South Moravian region. A recent report of autochthonous H. canis in dogs indicates that the spectrum of tick-borne diseases in dogs in the Czech Republic may be broader than previously expected and that a survey of a large set of dogs may be required. The aim of the present study was to survey the spectrum of tick-borne apicomplexan parasites infecting dogs in the Czech Republic and to assess the autochthonous character of detected infections. In the present study, we surveyed the spectrum of tick-borne protists in 418 dogs in the Czech Republic using PCR-based detection of the 18S rDNA gene of piroplasms and H. canis. We confirmed the presence of H. canis (4%), B. canis (1%, including the autochthonous cases) and a single imported case of B. gibsoni (0.2%) infection in sampled animals. Our results indicate that these pathogens deserve closer attention from veterinarian practitioners.