Molecular detection of Ehrlichia canis, Rangelia vitallii and Rickettsia rickettsii in ticks collected from dogs served in the Veterinary Hospital at the University of Santo Amaro

• Grant number: 15/26904-9
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): May 01, 2016
• Effective date (End): April 30, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Preventive Veterinary Medicine
• Principal researcher: Jonas Moraes Filho
• Grantee: Laura Zulzke Barboza Legname
• Home Institution: Universidade de Santo Amaro (UNISA). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Within the phylum Artropoda, the ticks are considered vectors for a number of infectious agents greater than any other group, including mosquitoes. In different parts of the world, including the Americas, the tick Rhipicephalus sanguineus is the main vector, if not the only, the bacterium Ehrlichia canis, the etiologic agent of canine monocytic ehrlichiosis (EMC). EMC in Brazil has shown growing series in veterinary hospitals and clinics, and is considered by many as one of the most important communicable diseases in the clinic for small animals. Another important hemoparasite in dogs is nambyuvú (ear bleeding), also known as fever Yellow fever dogs or blood caused by Rangelia vitallii infection, a protozoan that has the ability to parasitize the vascular endothelium, damaging it. In a recent study conducted by Soares (2014) reports that the species Amblyomma aureolatum demonstrated vector competence for R. vitallii because it was able to acquire and transmit the agent of domestic dogs. Spotted fever is now recognized as a zoonosis transmitted by ticks in Brazil, caused by the bacterium Rickettsia rickettsii the species, and is transmitted primarily by Amblyomma ticks. This project has as main objective to assess the presence of Ehrlichia canis, Rangelia vitallii and R. rickettsii in ticks collected in dogs treated at the Veterinary Hospital of the University of Santo Amaro, through molecular studies for 12 months in sampling and laboratory procedures.