CLINICAL, HEMATOLOGICAL AND PARASITOLOGICAL STUDY ON CANINE BABESIOSIS

Canine babesiosis is a common tick-borne disease of dogs worldwide. A number of Babesia sp. can infect dogs and the spectrum is increasing as molecular methods are developed to differentiate organisms. In the current study between March, 2014 and February, 2015, a total number of 200 dogs were examined for babesiosis. The clinical findings, the vector tick identification, hematological changesand parasitological diagnosis (blood film examination) of Babesia were investigated. Animals in cute form showed animals in this form showed fever (39.3 – 41.5o C), lethargy, icterus, splenomegaly, vomiting, congested mucous membrane, and hematuria. While chronic form characterized by intermittent pyrexia, partial anorexia, loss of body condition, pale mucous membrane. On the other hand, subclinical form shows no symptoms. Results of blood film showed that Babesia canis trophozoite existed in 2 morphological phenotypes either as piriform type or as an amoeboid type. Out of 200 dogs examined; 79 (39.5%) were naturally infected with hard ticks. The hard tick species were identified as Rhipicephalus sanguineus. The hematological findings showed that, there was significant decrease in RBCs count, Platelets count, Granulocytes count, HCT, and HGB in animals of infected group than healthy animals.