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 Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2016
• End date: April 30, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Preventive Veterinary Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Jonas Moraes Filho
• Grantee: Laura Zulzke Barboza Legname
• Host 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.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

ZULZKE, L.; LABRUNA, M. B.; SILVA, B. R. F.; MARCILI, A.; MARTINS, T. F.; MORAES-FILHO, J.. Molecular detection of Rickettsia rickettsii, Ehrlichia canis and Rangelia vitalli in Rhipicephalus sanguineus senso latu collected from dogs in Brazil. Arquivo Brasileiro de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, v. 75, n. 5, p. 6-pg., 2023-09-01. (15/26904-9)