Molecular prevalence and factors associated with Ehrlichia canis infection in dogs from the North Pantanal wetland, Brazil

Vet World Vol.16 June-2023 Article-4

Research Article

Veterinary World, 16(6): 1209-1213

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2023.1209-1213

Mariana Elisa Pereira¹, Darlan Henrique Canei¹, Matheus Roberto Carvalho¹, Álvaro Felipe de Lima Ruy Dias¹, Arleana do Bom Parto Ferreira de Almeida², Luciano Nakazato², and Valéria Régia Franco Sousa²

1. Postgraduate Program in Veterinary Science, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Federal University of Mato Grosso, Avenue Fernando Correa da Costa, Boa Esperança, Cuiabá, Mato Grosso, Brazil.
2. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Federal University of Mato Grosso, Avenue Fernando Correa da Costa, Boa Esperança, Cuiabá, Mato Grosso, Brazil.

Background and Aim: Canine monocytic ehrlichiosis is a vector-borne disease caused by the obligatory intracellular bacterium Ehrlichia canis, which is distributed across tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. Its prevalence within dog populations is high in municipalities located across the Pantanal biome, but it remains unknown in Barão de Melgaço, Mato Grosso, Brazil. This study aimed to determine the molecular prevalence and factors associated with E. canis infection in dogs domiciled in Barão de Melgaço.

Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out to investigate the prevalence of E. canis infection in 369 dogs from urban and rural areas in Barão de Melgaço, North Pantanal wetland, Brazil. Initially, the dogs were examined, and, through a questionnaire, the risk factors were investigated. Blood samples were subjected to DNA extraction and PCR was performed to estimate the prevalence of E. canis infection.

Results: The molecular prevalence of E. canis infection in dogs was 42.5% and none of the studied variables were significantly associated with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) positivity (p > 0.05).

Conclusion: The high molecular prevalence demonstrates an increased transmission of the agent across the city. This also indicates that attention needs to be paid to E. canis infection and control measures should be introduced to prevent its transmission. The demographic and clinical risk factors commonly associated with E. canis infection in this study were not associated with PCR positivity. Keywords: bacterium, DNA, dog, ehrlichiosis, Pantanal.

Keywords: bacterium, DNA, dog, ehrlichiosis, Pantanal.

How to cite this article: Pereira ME, Canei DH, Carvalho MR, Dias AFLR, Almeida ABPF, Nakazato L, and Sousa VRF (2023) Molecular prevalence and factors associated with

Received: 31-01-2023 Accepted: 09-05-2023 Published online: 05-06-2023

Corresponding author: Valéria Régia Franco Sousa E-mail: valeriaregia27@gmail.com

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2023.1209-1213

Copyright: Pereira, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.