Vector-borne Pathogens in Dogs of Different Regions of Iran and Pakistan

Overview

Journal Parasitol Res

Specialty Parasitology

Date 2021 Jan 28

PMID 33506332

Citations 18

Authors

Roberta Iatta

Alireza Sazmand

Viet-Linh Nguyen

Farzad Nemati

Muhammad Mazhar Ayaz

Zahra Bahiraei

Salman Zafari

Anna Giannico

Grazia Greco

Filipe Dantas-Torres

Domenico Otranto

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Canine vector-borne diseases (CVBDs) are highly prevalent in tropical and subtropical countries, mainly due to favorable climate conditions and reduced adoption of preventive measures. This study aimed to provide a comprehensive overview on the prevalence of CVBDs in Iran and Pakistan where limited data are available. Blood samples were collected from 403 dogs from six provinces in Iran and Pakistan to assess the presence of pathogen DNA (i.e., Anaplasma spp., Coxiella burnetii, Ehrlichia spp., Rickettsia spp., Babesia spp., Hepatozoon spp., filarioids, and Leishmania spp.). Sera were also screened by an immunofluorescence antibody test for the detection of antibodies against Leishmania infantum. In total, 46.9% of dogs scored positive to Hepatozoon canis being the most frequently detected (41.4%), followed by Anaplasma platys (6.4%), Ehrlichia canis (3.4%), Rickettsia spp. (2.2%), Babesia vogeli (1.0%), and L. infantum (0.3%). A seroprevalence of 9.6% to anti-L. infantum IgG was also recorded. Data reported herein demonstrate that dogs from Iran and Pakistan are at a high risk of CVBDs, particularly of canine hepatozoonosis. Effective control strategies are advocated for minimizing the risk of infection in animals and humans, also in consideration of the zoonotic potential of some pathogens detected.

Citing Articles

Visual Detection of Canine Monocytic Ehrlichiosis Using Polymerase Chain Reaction-Based Lateral Flow Biosensors.

Sumpavong P, Kaewmongkol S, Kaewmongkol G Animals (Basel). 2025; 15(5).

PMID: 40076023 PMC: 11898506. DOI: 10.3390/ani15050740.

Coxiellosis in Dogs-A Hitherto Masked Zoonosis in India: An Insight From Seromolecular Investigation and Risk Factor Analysis.

Vinod V, Malik S, Sivaprasad M, Malik C, Parmar N, Mathesh K Can J Infect Dis Med Microbiol. 2025; 2025:8642619.

PMID: 39872898 PMC: 11772063. DOI: 10.1155/cjid/8642619.

Clinical Study and Serological Diagnosis of Vector-Borne Pathogens in Sardinian Dogs.

Chisu V, Tanda A, Sechi S, Pinna Parpaglia M, Masu G, Loi F Vet Sci. 2024; 11(7).

PMID: 39057997 PMC: 11281559. DOI: 10.3390/vetsci11070313.

Molecular investigation of Leishmania in sandflies (Diptera: Psychodidae) and rodents (Mammalia: Rodentia) in Nahavand, west of Iran.

Zafari S, Motavallihaghi S, Salehzadeh A, Zahirnia A, Sazmand A, Maghsood A Parasitol Res. 2024; 123(6):253.

PMID: 38922451 DOI: 10.1007/s00436-024-08265-3.

Genotyping of ticks: first molecular report of and molecular detection of tick-borne bacteria in ticks and blood from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

Obaid M, Shehla S, Guan G, Rashid M, Shams S Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2024; 14:1346595.

PMID: 38533383 PMC: 10963394. DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2024.1346595.

References

Hamidi A, Nadim A, Edrissian G, Javadian E . Visceral leishmaniasis of jackals and dogs in northern Iran. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 1982; 76(6):756-7. DOI: 10.1016/0035-9203(82)90100-6. View

Dantas-Torres F, Chomel B, Otranto D . Ticks and tick-borne diseases: a One Health perspective. Trends Parasitol. 2012; 28(10):437-46. DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2012.07.003. View

Latrofa M, Dantas-Torres F, Giannelli A, Otranto D . Molecular detection of tick-borne pathogens in Rhipicephalus sanguineus group ticks. Ticks Tick Borne Dis. 2014; 5(6):943-6. DOI: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2014.07.014. View

Murata T, Inoue M, Taura Y, Nakama S, Abe H, Fujisaki K . Detection of Hepatozoon canis oocyst from ticks collected from the infected dogs. J Vet Med Sci. 1995; 57(1):111-2. DOI: 10.1292/jvms.57.111. View

Baneth G, Breitschwerdt E, Hegarty B, Pappalardo B, Ryan J . A survey of tick-borne bacteria and protozoa in naturally exposed dogs from Israel. Vet Parasitol. 1998; 74(2-4):133-42. DOI: 10.1016/s0304-4017(97)00149-0. View

Amoli A, Khoshnegah J, Razmi G . A preliminary parasitological survey of hepatozoon spp. Infection in dogs in mashhad, iran. Iran J Parasitol. 2013; 7(4):99-103. PMC: 3537478. View

Barati A, Razmi G . A Parasitologic and Molecular Survey of Hepatozoon canis Infection In Stray Dogs In Northeastern Iran. J Parasitol. 2018; 104(4):413-417. DOI: 10.1645/17-105. View

Levin M, Killmaster L, Zemtsova G . Domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) as reservoir hosts for Rickettsia conorii. Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2011; 12(1):28-33. DOI: 10.1089/vbz.2011.0684. View

Kumar S, Stecher G, Li M, Knyaz C, Tamura K . MEGA X: Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis across Computing Platforms. Mol Biol Evol. 2018; 35(6):1547-1549. PMC: 5967553. DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msy096. View

10.

Malik M, Qamar M, Ain Q, Hussain M, Dahmani M, Ayaz M . Molecular detection of Ehrlichia canis in dogs from three districts in Punjab (Pakistan). Vet Med Sci. 2018; 4(2):126-132. PMC: 5979635. DOI: 10.1002/vms3.94. View

11.

Abdullah Saghir A, Imran R, Kamran A, Wasim S, Matiullah K, Kashif H . Molecular occurrence of canine babesiosis in rural dog population in Pakistan. Trop Biomed. 2021; 35(3):593-603. View

12.

Ogden N, Lindsay L . Effects of Climate and Climate Change on Vectors and Vector-Borne Diseases: Ticks Are Different. Trends Parasitol. 2016; 32(8):646-656. DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2016.04.015. View

13.

Otranto D, Dantas-Torres F, Mihalca A, Traub R, Lappin M, Baneth G . Zoonotic Parasites of Sheltered and Stray Dogs in the Era of the Global Economic and Political Crisis. Trends Parasitol. 2017; 33(10):813-825. DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2017.05.013. View

14.

Colella V, Hodzic A, Iatta R, Baneth G, Alic A, Otranto D . Zoonotic Leishmaniasis, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Emerg Infect Dis. 2018; 25(2):385-386. PMC: 6346464. DOI: 10.3201/eid2502.181481. View

15.

Tamura K . Estimation of the number of nucleotide substitutions when there are strong transition-transversion and G+C-content biases. Mol Biol Evol. 1992; 9(4):678-87. DOI: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a040752. View

16.

Mendoza-Roldan J, Benelli G, Panarese R, Iatta R, Furlanello T, Beugnet F . Leishmania infantum and Dirofilaria immitis infections in Italy, 2009-2019: changing distribution patterns. Parasit Vectors. 2020; 13(1):193. PMC: 7161282. DOI: 10.1186/s13071-020-04063-9. View

17.

Otranto D, Iatta R, Baneth G, Cavalera M, Bianco A, Parisi A . High prevalence of vector-borne pathogens in domestic and wild carnivores in Iraq. Acta Trop. 2019; 197:105058. DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2019.105058. View

18.

Maia C, Ramada J, Cristovao J, Goncalves L, Campino L . Diagnosis of canine leishmaniasis: conventional and molecular techniques using different tissues. Vet J. 2007; 179(1):142-4. DOI: 10.1016/j.tvjl.2007.08.009. View

19.

Mohebali M, Moradi-Asl E, Rassi Y . Geographic distribution and spatial analysis of infection in domestic and wild animal reservoir hosts of zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis in Iran: A systematic review. J Vector Borne Dis. 2019; 55(3):173-183. DOI: 10.4103/0972-9062.249125. View

20.

Hasegawa M, Kishino H, Yano T . Dating of the human-ape splitting by a molecular clock of mitochondrial DNA. J Mol Evol. 1985; 22(2):160-74. DOI: 10.1007/BF02101694. View