Case Report: First Autochthonous Infection in a Dog from Italy

Overview

Journal Front Vet Sci

Specialty Veterinary Medicine

Date 2025 Mar 6

PMID 40046425

Authors

Maria Teresa Antognoni

Valentina Cremonini

Ambra Lisa Misia

Federica Gobbo

Federica Toniolo

Arianna Miglio

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

A 10-month-old intact female Cane Corso dog was referred to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital of the University of Perugia (PG-VTH) for severe hemolytic anemia and thrombocytopenia. The dog had never traveled abroad and was regularly treated with antiparasitic products. On physical examination, the dog showed lethargy, delayed growth, weight loss, pale mucous membranes, and abdominal pain. The temperature was normal, and on examination, no ectoparasites were observed on the animal's body surface. The main laboratory findings were hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia, and elevated liver enzymes. infection was initially diagnosed by blood smear evaluation via May-Grünwald-Giemsa staining and then confirmed by real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis; further sequencing analysis attributed the infection to (). An initial treatment with imidocarb dipropionate was only partially effective, while resolution of the infection was reached afterward with a combination of Malarone and azithromycin therapy. To the authors' knowledge, this report describes the first case of infection in a dog in Italy.

References

Camacho A, Guitian E, Pallas E, Gestal J, Olmeda A, Goethert H . Azotemia and mortality among Babesia microti-like infected dogs. J Vet Intern Med. 2004; 18(2):141-6. DOI: 10.1892/0891-6640(2004)18<141:aamabm>2.0.co;2. View

Barash N, Thomas B, Birkenheuer A, Breitschwerdt E, Lemler E, Qurollo B . Prevalence of Babesia spp. and clinical characteristics of Babesia vulpes infections in North American dogs. J Vet Intern Med. 2019; 33(5):2075-2081. PMC: 6766513. DOI: 10.1111/jvim.15560. View

Simoes P, Cardoso L, Araujo M, Yisaschar-Mekuzas Y, Baneth G . Babesiosis due to the canine Babesia microti-like small piroplasm in dogs-first report from Portugal and possible vertical transmission. Parasit Vectors. 2011; 4:50. PMC: 3082238. DOI: 10.1186/1756-3305-4-50. View

Kumar A, OBryan J, Krause P . The Global Emergence of Human Babesiosis. Pathogens. 2021; 10(11). PMC: 8623124. DOI: 10.3390/pathogens10111447. View

Radyuk E, Karan L . A case of Babesia vulpes infection in a dog in Russia. Vet Parasitol Reg Stud Reports. 2020; 22:100467. DOI: 10.1016/j.vprsr.2020.100467. View

Iguchi A, Shiranaga N, Matsuu A, Hikasa Y . Efficacy of Malarone(®) in dogs naturally infected with Babesia gibsoni. J Vet Med Sci. 2014; 76(9):1291-5. PMC: 4197161. DOI: 10.1292/jvms.14-0139. View

Gabrielli S, Otasevic S, Ignjatovic A, Savic S, Fraulo M, Arsic-Arsenijevic V . Canine Babesioses in Noninvestigated Areas of Serbia. Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2015; 15(9):535-8. DOI: 10.1089/vbz.2015.1797. View

Najm N, Meyer-Kayser E, Hoffmann L, Herb I, Fensterer V, Pfister K . A molecular survey of Babesia spp. and Theileria spp. in red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and their ticks from Thuringia, Germany. Ticks Tick Borne Dis. 2014; 5(4):386-91. DOI: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2014.01.005. View

Ebani V, Trebino C, Guardone L, Bertelloni F, Cagnoli G, Nardoni S . Occurrence of Bacterial and Protozoan Pathogens in Red Foxes () in Central Italy. Animals (Basel). 2022; 12(20). PMC: 9598198. DOI: 10.3390/ani12202891. View

10.

Tabar M, Altet L, Francino O, Sanchez A, Ferrer L, Roura X . Vector-borne infections in cats: molecular study in Barcelona area (Spain). Vet Parasitol. 2007; 151(2-4):332-6. DOI: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2007.10.019. View

11.

Tuska-Szalay B, Vizi Z, Hofmann-Lehmann R, Vajdovich P, Takacs N, Meli M . emerging with high prevalence and co-infections in "fighting dogs" in Hungary. Curr Res Parasitol Vector Borne Dis. 2022; 1:100048. PMC: 8906116. DOI: 10.1016/j.crpvbd.2021.100048. View

12.

Mierzejewska E, Dwuznik D, Koczwarska J, Stanczak L, Opalinska P, Krokowska-Paluszak M . The red fox (Vulpes vulpes), a possible reservoir of Babesia vulpes, B. canis and Hepatozoon canis and its association with the tick Dermacentor reticulatus occurrence. Ticks Tick Borne Dis. 2020; 12(1):101551. DOI: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2020.101551. View

13.

Baneth G . Antiprotozoal treatment of canine babesiosis. Vet Parasitol. 2018; 254:58-63. DOI: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2018.03.001. View

14.

Morganti G, Miglio A, Moretta I, Misia A, Rigamonti G, Cremonini V . Retrospective Longitudinal Survey on Canine Vector-Borne Pathogens: Trends and Challenges of 10 Years of Activities of a Veterinary Blood Bank. Vet Sci. 2022; 9(6). PMC: 9228790. DOI: 10.3390/vetsci9060274. View

15.

Lledo L, Gimenez-Pardo C, Dominguez-Penafiel G, Sousa R, Gegundez M, Casado N . Molecular detection of hemoprotozoa and Rickettsia species in arthropods collected from wild animals in the Burgos Province, Spain. Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2010; 10(8):735-8. DOI: 10.1089/vbz.2009.0114. View

16.

Otranto D, Cantacessi C, Dantas-Torres F, Brianti E, Pfeffer M, Genchi C . The role of wild canids and felids in spreading parasites to dogs and cats in Europe. Part II: Helminths and arthropods. Vet Parasitol. 2015; 213(1-2):24-37. DOI: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2015.04.020. View

17.

Birkenheuer A, Horney B, Bailey M, Scott M, Sherbert B, Catto V . Babesia microti-like infections are prevalent in North American foxes. Vet Parasitol. 2010; 172(3-4):179-82. DOI: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2010.05.020. View

18.

Yeagley T, Reichard M, Hempstead J, Allen K, Parsons L, White M . Detection of Babesia gibsoni and the canine small Babesia 'Spanish isolate' in blood samples obtained from dogs confiscated from dogfighting operations. J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2009; 235(5):535-9. DOI: 10.2460/javma.235.5.535. View

19.

Beck R, Vojta L, Mrljak V, Marinculic A, Beck A, Zivicnjak T . Diversity of Babesia and Theileria species in symptomatic and asymptomatic dogs in Croatia. Int J Parasitol. 2009; 39(7):843-8. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2008.12.005. View

20.

Rene-Martellet M, Valiente Moro C, Chene J, Bourdoiseau G, Chabanne L, Mavingui P . Update on epidemiology of canine babesiosis in Southern France. BMC Vet Res. 2015; 11:223. PMC: 4547427. DOI: 10.1186/s12917-015-0525-3. View