Evaluation of blood parameters in naturally infected dogs with Babesia gibsoni and B. vogeli

Abstract

Canine babesiosis is an emerging disease with worldwide distribution. There are few studies about the haematological and biochemical findings of canine babesiosis. Therefore, the present study was conducted to understand the hematobiochemical changes in PCR confirmed Babesia gibsoni (n = 21) and B. vogeli (n = 22) blood samples from dogs. It was found that the B. gibsoni and B. vogeli infected dogs have significant reduction in Hb, PCV, TEC and TLC values. However, there was no significant changes in liver (ALT) and kidney (creatinine) function tests compare to uninfected healthy dogs. Thrombocytopenia, on the other hand, was statistically recognised only in dogs infected with B. gibsoni. From the present study, it was found that the anaemia and thrombocytopenia may server as early indicators for clinical diagnosis of babesiosis for initiating treatment before confirmatory diagnosis with molecular assays such as PCR in field conditions.